Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics,

On the day of his second inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.”

Sounds innocent enough, right? But this is the infamous order declaring that birthright citizenship does not extend to children of parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily.

“Not so fast,” said attorneys for illegal aliens and their children. “Our clients snuck across the border fair and square and they want the prize promised them by the Constitution – U.S. citizenship for all children born after they crossed the border.”

But is that really what the Constitution says? Here are the words from the 14th Amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

As President Trump noted in his executive order, the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” have always been used to exclude certain classes of people from birthright citizenship. That included, for instance, children of diplomats, who enjoy immunity in their host country. For several decades, it also included Native Americans of certain tribes that had entered into treaties that provided at least partial sovereignty. Those exclusions are not in the Constitution, but they are in the law. So why can’t there be an exclusion for illegal immigrants?

Trump’s executive order correctly recognizes that the higher purpose of the 14th Amendment was to guarantee citizenship for the children of former slaves, who had not only been subject to the jurisdiction of the American government, but even subject to sale. They had earned citizenship through hardship, pain, and suffering – not through an accident of birth. Obviously, the authors of the amendment recognized the high value of citizenship, and it seems unlikely they would just hand it out willy-nilly.

Which brings us back to “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Were citizenship to be granted simply on the basis of where you were born, that phrase would not have been necessary. Yet there it is. As a matter of law, there is no formal, writ-in-stone definition of what “subject to jurisdiction” means. And that’s what the Trump administration hopes will provide enough ambiguity that the Supreme Court will agree that the president has the authority to declare under his executive powers that the children of illegal immigrants should not be considered birthright citizens because they fail the jurisdiction test.

Three district court judges have already ruled against Trump and issued “temporary nationwide injunctions” to prevent the executive order from being carried out. On May 15, the Supreme Court heard the case, partly to resolve whether district courts should have the authority to apply their rulings nationwide and, ultimately, to make its own determination on the legality of the executive order.

But even if the high court should reject presidential authority to interpret the Constitution, the argument does not end there. Section 5 of the 14th Amendment provides that “Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” In other words, the rare trifecta of a Republican House, Republican Senate and Republican president offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Congress to establish once and for all that U.S. citizenship does not hinge on the ability of one’s parents to sneak past the Border Patrol before you are born.

Unfortunately, the Senate’s current filibuster rules would not allow for a simple majority to define “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in such a way that it excludes the children of illegal immigrants. But since senators in recent years have allowed filibuster exemptions for confirmation of presidential nominations and for votes on budget “reconciliation” bills, there is no reason why some smart parliamentarian could not carve out a new exception narrowly tailored to allow a simple majority to define citizenship.

If that seems like using brute force to impose a nation-changing mandate upon the American people, so be it. As Justice Arthur Goldberg wrote in 1963, the Constitution is “not a suicide pact.” Yet allowing the children of well over 20 million illegal immigrants to become citizens of a country whose customs they ignore, whose language they often don’t understand or choose to learn, and whose laws their parents broke even before they were born, is an invitation to chaos and collapse.

If that’s not a national suicide pact, I don’t know what is.

Frank Miele, retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book “The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake” is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

NEW ENGLAND—On the eve of Easter Sunday, detectives in Narragansett, Rhode Island, were busy investigating crimes when messages began to pour in.

“It came from everywhere,” Detective Sgt. Brent Kuzman said, referring to the flurry of emails and phone calls to dispatch that pointed to an anonymous Facebook post on a group called New England SK (the SK referring to serial killer).

While the identity of the person behind the post was unavailable publicly, the post itself suggested the possibility of six bodies buried at Black Point near Scarborough Beach, each positioned vertically and facing the ocean.

And despite the post also stating it was a piece of fiction, Kuzman believed the message contained enough credibility to prompt further investigation.

That same day, on April 19, four detectives from the Narragansett PD and two Rhode Island State Police cadaver dog teams began searching along woodland trails and the Scarborough beachfront. The department also contacted the FBI.

The search lasted for 20 hours and yielded nothing.

“We used our whole detective division over two days,” Kuzman told The Epoch Times. “We had to put off every other case. The area we looked at was an extensive amount of land.”

Kuzman said the investigation concluded the post was a “100 percent” hoax, adding that the creator of the post has since deleted the message, canceled the account, and remains unidentified. The police declined to provide a screenshot of the post to The Epoch Times.

This, however, is just one chapter in a story of murder, conspiracy, and hoaxes revolving around a supposed serial killer, and all being played out on social media.

On the Side of Caution

Social media had been buzzing for months following the discovery of 13 bodies and skeletal remains in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island between March and April.

Most of the remains found were female, including two who had been reported missing in 2024.

In Massachusetts, three cases were identified as homicides, which led to two separate arrests on murder charges. Other causes of death are still undetermined or involve circumstances that police are unable to disclose.

Two cases involve incomplete sets of human remains.

On March 27, a hunter searching for deer antlers found a portion of a human skull in Plymouth, Massachusetts, according to Boston25 News. Police closed off the area as part of the ongoing investigation.

The department released a statement the next day, stating there was “no threat to public safety.”

On May 4, police reported the discovery of a possible human leg bone near the home of pop singer Taylor Swift in an upscale area of Westerly, Rhode Island. The remains have not been identified.

The Epoch Times contacted the Westerly police for a comment.

Linking Cases

The chatter and differing opinions on social media about a possible serial killer have continued with each grisly discovery.

“LE [law enforcement] still saying it is not a SK [serial killer]. I think now is when they should be most concerned. This ‘killer(s)’ is getting more brazen. They are calling out for recognition,” read one Facebook post.

Another Facebook post read: “I can understand not wanting to jump to conclusions or cause a panic, but why does it always seem like the police are just dead set against even considering the possibility of a serial killer?”

A May 1 post states: “While some of the people found have indeed been victims of foul play, there are others who seem more like a victim of their own demons.”

Kuzman believes there is no evidence linking all the cases, and that social media users have been selectively focusing on certain cases to support a serial killer narrative.

“I feel like the whole movement behind this is cherry-picking—like they have a conclusion—and they’re trying to justify whatever data they have of there being a serial killer,” he said.

“There’s been nothing [from law enforcement] about a potential suspect in a serial killing in this region at all,” he said.

But the story has developed a “life of its own.”

On April 24, Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni issued a statement addressing growing concerns after police found a woman unresponsive on a bike path near the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Meggan Meredith, 45, was pronounced dead shortly after 8 a.m. on April 22. Authorities have classified her death as a homicide.

“We understand the unease that comes with such acts of violence,” Gulluni said, “and we want the community to know that each of these cases is being thoroughly investigated in close coordination with our law enforcement partners.”

He advised people to exercise caution when sharing social media posts that aim to spread fear and misinformation.

“Unverified claims can compromise active investigations and contribute to a sense of chaos that does not reflect the full picture,” Gulluni said.

Serial Killers Everywhere

Multiple law enforcement agencies across the country have expressed similar concerns about social media posts claiming that serial killers are active throughout the United States.

Law enforcement classifies a serial killer as someone who murders two or more individuals in separate incidents. Usually, it’s for psychological pleasure, thrill-seeking, attention, or financial gain.

On Dec. 5, 2024, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department addressed social media claims about a serial killer targeting individuals as part of a nationwide “scam.”

“Please be assured that we would inform you immediately of any potential threat to your safety or the safety of our community. Your safety is our greatest priority,” the department posted on Facebook.

On Dec. 9, 2024, police in Odessa, Texas, posted a similar warning on Facebook about a possible serial killer “knocking on doors in Odessa.”

“These posts are intended to cause unwarranted public harm and have been determined to be false,” the post added.

The Eastland Police Department in Texas also addressed allegations of a serial killer, determining them to be false.

“Please be assured that there is no credible threat to our community. Similar posts have appeared in various regions and are designed to create panic and fear,” the department wrote on its Facebook page.

“We urge everyone to verify information through your local law enforcement departments before sharing.”

On Jan. 31, police in Camden, South Carolina, warned residents about a scam circulating on social media that falsely claimed serial killers were targeting several states.

The posts included random names and mugshots to lend credibility to the misinformation.

“Once the post goes viral, they edit the content to promote scams (fake rental listings, phishing links). Do not share or engage these posts,” the notice added.

“Stay informed and always verify information from trusted sources.”

Serial killings make up less than 1 percent of all homicides, according to the World Population Review.

Since the 1990s, the rate of serial killings has declined, with California having the highest number of known victims at 1,777 between 1992 and 2019. Texas had the second highest number of victims with 984, followed by Florida with 933, Illinois and New York round out the top five.

Trolling Law Enforcement

Spreading or discussing false information or rumors on social media is generally not considered a crime under federal law. However, it can lead to legal consequences if done with malicious intent or if it causes harm.

Under Title 18 U.S. Code 1038, known as the false information and hoaxes law, it is a federal offense to engage in any conduct intended to convey false or misleading statements about a major crisis to incite fear and panic.

Kuzman noted that the Facebook post mentioning a gravesite in Narragansett seemed intended to provoke reactions from social media users. Nonetheless, investigators determined it did not constitute a crime.

Read the rest of the report here…

Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Judy Sowers is the matriarch of a family that has seen generations work at “the Mead,” which is what the paper mill in Chillicothe is known as by many locals.

On May 8, Sowers gathered around a kitchen table with two of her daughters, her brother, and her son-in-law in a house across the street from the mill and its red-and-white striped tower.

Their conversation was on a topic that is on the minds of residents, business owners, and local officials in this community of 21,895 in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio.

Pixelle Specialty Solutions—and its parent, private equity firm H.I.G. Capital—announced on April 15 that it would be shutting down its paper mill in Chillicothe.

The company said the closure was necessary as part of its effort to “align its operation footprint with long-term business objectives.”

Jobs are on the line for around 830 workers. The company originally intended to shut down the mill in phases over the weeks that followed the announcement.

The decision was delayed after freshman Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) secured a commitment from H.I.G. Capital, which bought the mill in 2022, to pause the facility’s closure until the end of the year.

Chillicothe is known as the “Paper City.” The mill was opened in 1812.

Sowers’s grandparents worked at the Mead. So did John Angus Sr., Sowers’s father. Several other family members have spent their careers at the mill.

“If you didn’t work there, you had family work there, or you knew someone who worked there. Kids grow up hearing stories from generations of family members about working at the mill,” Sowers, 74, said.

John Angus Jr., Sowers’s brother, recalled his 42-year career that stretched from his early 20s to retirement age.

“It took me five years to get on there after I graduated from high school. At the time, it was a job many people wanted to have if they wanted to stay here,” John Angus Jr. told The Epoch Times.

“I worked shift work for almost 43 years, so I missed a lot of stuff with the family, but it put bread and butter on the table. It would be a shame to see it close.”

Chillicothe became the first capital of the Northwest Territory in 1800 and Ohio’s first capital in 1803.

Chillicothe’s downtown has been revitalized over the past decade and serves as the centerpiece of the city, featuring an ambience reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Restaurants, antique shops, coffeehouses, taverns, and Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop occupy historic buildings reflecting an architecture from a bygone era.

With its downtown and attractions such as the amphitheater, where an outdoor drama about Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh still plays every summer, Chillicothe draws outside visitors.

Most of the businesses rely on local traffic, though, provided by major employers such as Adena Regional Medical Center, two state prisons, a VA Medical Center, a Kenworth semi-truck manufacturing plant, and the mill.

Trent Fannin and his wife opened Rost Coffee in downtown Chillicothe in 2016. The shop buzzes with traffic from mill workers, employees from downtown businesses, and high school and college students.

“Downtown Chillicothe has a lively pulse that downtowns in most towns across southern Ohio don’t have. It’s a destination, and hopefully, we don’t find out the impact of losing the mill. We’re concerned, but hopeful,” Fannin said.

Residents and local and state legislators are hopeful that Pixelle finds a way to keep the mill open long term or sell it to a company committed to making a long-term commitment to Chillicothe.

It was purchased by Col. Daniel Mead of Dayton, around 75 miles northwest of Chillicothe, in 1890. The Mead was one of the largest paper manufacturers in the country for more than 100 years.

In 2002, the Mead merged with Westvaco in a $3 billion stock transaction.

The headquarters of MeadWestvaco was relocated from Dayton to Connecticut, and then to Richmond, Virginia.

After learning about the plan to shutter the mill, Moreno wrote a letter to H.I.G. CEO Sami Mnaymneh, charging the executive with “selfish business decisions and corporate greed.”

“H.I.G. Capital is an investment firm with $69 billion of equity capital under management, riddled with Wall Street executives, including Mr. Mnaymneh, a billionaire five times over and one of the wealthiest people in the world,” Moreno wrote.

The firm’s business model is “to suck the proverbial blood out of companies it acquires until the companies declare bankruptcy, leaving the employees and communities it decimates behind,” Moreno said, pointing to the outcomes of some of the other transactions the private equity firm has made.

Read the rest here…

Western Intelligence agencies have long raised concerns over the potential for adversaries to hide and deploy missile systems inside standard shipping containers, making virtually any cargo ship, truck, or rail car an undetectable covert mobile launch platform. 

This past weekend, those fears were officially realized when Ukrainian forces launched a fleet of suicide drones deep inside Russia using shipping containers transported by tractor-trailers — effectively bypassing early warning missile defense systems.

We found a warehouse where containers with drones were collected.

Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk tract 28A. It was rented for 350,000 rubles. That’s why the truck in the Amur region had Chelyabinsk license plates – they were leaving from there. pic.twitter.com/rf5DJy8RDa

— Elizaveta Igorevna 🇷🇺 🇷🇺 (@ElisaIgorevna) June 1, 2025

The mobility, deniability, and camouflage of these containers made it a nightmare for Russia, with several long-range bombers at various air bases destroyed by $100 drones with warheads.

“Ukraine just mounted an attack that marks a turning point in the history of warfare Hundreds of drones were pre-deployed and then struck 40+ aircraft 1000+ km inside of Russia >$1B in damage by <$1m of drones Critical infra is no longer safe,” Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire wrote on X. 

Ukraine just mounted an attack that marks a turning point in the history of warfare

Hundreds of drones were pre-deployed and then struck 40+ aircraft 1000+ km inside of Russia

>$1B in damage by <$1m of drones

Critical infra is no longer safepic.twitter.com/qaPS3oKD1Y

— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) June 1, 2025

Castle Island Ventures’ Nic Carter responded to Maguire’s post with, “Trying to think through the implications of this. Asymmetric/ irregular warfare just became way more viable. Traditional organized militaries are toast.”

Trying to think through the implications of this. Asymmetric/ irregular warfare just became way more viable. Traditional organized militaries are toast.

— nic carter (@nic__carter) June 1, 2025

The nightmare scenario for military and homeland defense planners is intermodal shipping containers outfitted with weaponized kamikaze AI drones that can blend in on commercial transport modes (cargo ships, trucks, trains). 

Containerized drone systems significantly obscure the line between commercial and military assets, enabling strategic deception and surprise.

Given recent drone incidents in the US: 

• Spy Drones Swarmed Langley Air Base, Pentagon Unable To Counter Threat

• U.S. Military Bases, Sensitive Sites Targeted By Drones For Years

The next containerized drone-based attack is not a question of if, but when. This is the new face of warfare — covert, mobile, and nearly impossible to detect until it’s too late.

Also, the U.S. now faces growing vulnerabilities, not only from irregular warfare but also from internal security lapses after the Biden-Harris regime flooded the nation with ten-plus million illegal aliens, some of whom are linked to terror.

Authored by Robert Curry via RealClearEducation,

Harvard has rejected common sense.

When Lord Acton, the great nineteenth-century historian and champion of liberty, visited Harvard in 1853, he found that the college’s philosophy was common sense realism. Acton wrote that by “the third year, Reid becomes a textbook.” The Reid in question was Thomas Reid, author of An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (1764). The common sense realist philosophers—especially Reid, Adam Smith, and Francis Hutcheson—fundamentally shaped the thinking of America’s Founders and provided the foundation for teaching and learning in American colleges until Acton’s visit and beyond.

Harvard was not alone in its dedication to Reid and common sense realism. In fact, as Arthur Herman notes, common sense realism was “virtually the official creed of the American Republic.” Allen Guelzo puts it this way:

“Before the Civil War, every major [American] collegiate intellectual was a disciple of Scottish common sense realism.”

In his book Scottish Philosophy in America, James Foster states that it provided the “philosophical orientation… at Princeton, Harvard, and Yale, as well as newly founded colleges stretching from Rhode Island to Texas.”

By the time of Acton’s visit to Harvard, although it was then—and is still today—referred to as Scottish, America had become the real home of common sense realism and the center of its continued development. James McCosh, president of Princeton from 1868 to 1888, is a prime example of this trend. McCosh published prolifically, was admired for his clear and readable style, and was one of many American thinkers who kept common sense realism strong in the nineteenth century.

The core idea of common sense realism is that self-evident truths exist and can be known through common sense; common sense enables us to recognize what is self-evidently true. Read the Founders, and you will find them constantly referring to self-evident truths. They drew their understanding of self-evidence from Reid. Because the Founders’ thinking relied on Reid’s conception of self-evident truth, Harvard, Princeton, and other institutions at the time aimed to teach American college students how to think like Americans.

We have heard and read these words— “We hold these Truths to be self-evident…”—all our lives. To understand the Founders’ conception of self-evident truth is to approach the very heart of the American founding. Jefferson and the other Founders held that “all men are created equal” is self-evidently true. According to Lincoln, it is “an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times.” For more than a hundred years, American colleges dedicated themselves to teaching the philosophy that the Founders and Lincoln relied on in making that declaration.

Things have changed at Harvard and virtually every other American university. As in the early days of the Republic, American universities today share a philosophical orientation.

Postmodernism rejects truth and common sense. This explains how a Supreme Court Justice can declare that she does not know what a woman is; Justice Jackson received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and her law degree from Harvard Law School. But postmodern academics are often not content simply to teach their students to reject truth and common sense—the foundation of the Founders’ idea of America. They also frequently indoctrinate students in Progressivism, the systematic rejection of the Founders’ idea of America itself. This is the explanation for all those fabulously privileged young Americans demonstrating their violent rejection of the American way of life by rioting in the streets and chanting anti-American slogans. They could not make their anti-Americanism any clearer—and, for the most part, they were taught this anti-Americanism in American schools and universities.

Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on June 1 removed a previously published list of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States, which were accused of failing to comply with federal immigration law.

The move comes following criticism from a national sheriffs’ group that has mostly been supportive of Trump’s tough-on-crime policy approach.

In a statement, National Sheriffs’ Association President Sheriff Kieran Donahue said, “This list was created without any input, criteria of compliance, or a mechanism for how to object to the designation. Sheriffs nationwide have no way to know what they must do or not do to avoid this arbitrary label.”

On May 29, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, acting under the direction of President Donald Trump, published a list encompassing jurisdictions across 35 states—including city, county, and state government—that Noem said were “endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens.”

Following the criticism, the page where the list had been published was taken offline.

According to Donahue, DHS and other officials had not provided sufficient details on the methodology and criteria used to determine which jurisdictions qualified as sanctuaries.

The publication of the list “has not only violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement, but it also has the potential to strain the relationship between Sheriffs and the White House administration,” the statement said.

During meetings between the group and administration officials, “no political appointee for the administration could explain who compiled, proofed, and verified the list before publication,” Donahue said.

The list came in response to an April 28 executive order signed by Trump requesting that the DHS produce “a list of States and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.” Jurisdictions identified as sanctuaries could be eligible to lose federal funding.

In some cases, entire states were marked sanctuaries, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

Some of the jurisdictions labeled sanctuaries fell in traditionally Republican states.

These include Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta and surrounding counties; Boise, Idaho; Monroe County, Indiana; Douglas County and Lawrence, Kansas; Louisville, Kentucky, and four counties in the state; New Orleans; 10 counties in Nebraska; five counties in North Carolina; seven counties in North Dakota; and Nashville and one county in Tennessee.

Other states identified as having at least one county or city in violation of federal law include Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Trump’s earlier executive order called for department chiefs and other relevant officials to “identify appropriate federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions, including grants and contracts, for suspension or termination, as appropriate.”

It also called on the attorney general and DHS secretary to “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States.”

The push to strip these jurisdictions of federal funds aligns with a long-held Republican objective to tighten border security and enforce immigration law.

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

The results of a chromosome test on Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif at the World Boxing Championships in March 2023 confirm the Algerian boxer is, as many have suspected, a biological male.

In 2023, Khelif was disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for “failing gender eligibility tests.”

The leaked medical report, first published by 3 Wire Sports on Sunday, showed Khelif’s DNA showed “markers with male karyotypes.”

A separate medical report in June 2023 found that Khelif was born with a deficiency in his sexual organs known as “5-alpha reductase type-2,” showing XY chromosomes, internal testes and a “micropenis.”

The results of a hormone test showed that Khelif had a “male-type testosterone level of 14.7.”  In females, testosterone does not exceed the level of 3.

According to the National Library of Medicine, many people with 5-alpha reductase are “assigned female at birth,” but are in fact, “genetically male.”

Despite this, Khelif was deemed eligible to compete at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, where he “won” the women’s boxing gold medal representing Algeria.

World Boxing on Friday declared that in the future, Khelif will need to undergo sex screening to be eligible for any further boxing matches against women.

Khelief had previously expressed interest in competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

World Boxing, which is set to run testing for the Los Angeles Games, requires any person over 18 required to undergo PCR testing to determine their sex. The tests will reportedly be “conducted by nasal/mouth swab, saliva or blood.”

In a letter to the Algerian Boxing Federation, World Boxing stated that Khelif will not be able “to compete in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or any World Boxing event” until he undergoes the sex testing.

“Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup, 5-10 June 2025 and any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes genetic sex screening in accordance with World Boxing’s rules and testing procedures,” the letter read.

“To all the people that insisted Imane Khelif was a woman because his passport said so, you were wrong. We were right. Sincerely, People with functioning eyes and a shred of honesty,” wrote women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines on X.

Author JK Rowling posted on X that Khelif’s ban from boxing is “a win for women because they won’t be battered to death in the ring by men.”

“I never said and never believed Khelif was trans. I knew* he was a man. The gender activists who created a political climate in which sex testing was seen as ‘bigoted’ are as culpable as the IOC for the travesty that ensued. *via a highly credible source who saw his test results,” Rowling wrote.

Broadcaster Piers Morgan also weighed in on X: “The biology-denying woke brigade abused and shamed me for saying it was outrageous and dangerous for Khelif to be beating up women at the Olympics. I’m ready for their apology, but won’t hold my breath.”

Wildfires in Alberta, Canada — the country’s energy hub — have shuttered 344k barrels per day of oil sands production, or about 7% of national output. 

Cenovus Energy, MEG Energy, and Canadian Natural Resources have halted output because of a 61,500-hectare blaze near the Saskatchewan border. 

One of the 26 active wildfires is about 6 miles from 470k barrels bpd of oil sands production. 

What’s critical to know:

• Affected companies include Cenovus Energy, MEG Energy, and Canadian Natural Resources.

• Roughly 470k bpd of production is within 6 miles of active fires.

• Cenovus halted its Christina Lake site (238k bpd) last Thursday, expecting to restart soon

• MEG Energy delayed restarting part of its 70k bpd site due to power outages.

• Canadian Natural shut 36k bpd at its Jackfish 1 site after evacuations.

Important context: Canada produces 4.9 million bpd. It’s the largest foreign oil supplier to the U.S., accounting for approximately 60% of total crude imports, with the vast majority of that coming from Alberta’s oil sands.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Monday that some 400,000 hectares have burned across the province, up from about 9,000 as of last week. 

Any major disruption to Alberta’s oil production will tighten North American supply, push prices higher, and may force U.S. refiners to source costlier supplies elsewhere. It’s a risk worth monitoring—something Goldman analyst Adam Wijaya flagged late last week.

Authored by Dana Anderson via Redfin News,

There’s a total of $698 billion worth of homes for sale in the U.S., up 20.3% from a year ago and the highest dollar amount ever. 

This is based on an analysis of listings on Redfin.com going back through 2012. For the total dollar value of all inventory on the market, we sum up the list price of all active U.S. listings as of the last day of each month; April 2025 is the most recent month for which data is available. For the purposes of this report, the term “value” is interchangeable with “list price”; i.e., when we refer to “total home value,” we mean the sum of all list prices. We define “stale inventory” as home listings that spend at least 60 days on the market and are actively listed for sale on the final day of the relevant month. Please see the end of this report for more on methodology. 

The total value of U.S. home listings is at an all-time high because of the combination of growing inventory, slowing demand, and increasing home-sale prices:

• Housing supply is at a 5-year high. There are many more sellers than buyers in the market. The total number of homes on the market nationwide rose 16.7% year over year in April to its highest level in 5 years, with the mortgage-rate lock-in effect easing and homeowners trying to cash out due to economic uncertainty. New listings increased 8.6% to a 3-year high. 
• Homes are sitting on the market longer. The typical home that sold in April took 40 days to go under contract, 5 days longer than a year earlier. There’s also a growing share of inventory that has been sitting on the market for longer than two months; see the next section of this report for more details. 
• Homebuying demand is falling. Home sales are declining, and Redfin agents in much of the country report that would-be buyers are backing off due to record-high monthly housing costs and widespread economic instability. 
• Home prices are rising. The median U.S. home-sale price rose 1.4% year over year in April. Note that the total value of inventory is up by much more, 20.3% year over year, which signals that in recent years, the rising number of listings is a bigger factor in the total value of inventory than rising prices. 

Another Redfin analysis found that there are nearly 500,000 more home sellers than buyers in today’s housing market. The fact that so many homes are being listed without buyers out there to purchase them, along with continually rising prices, explains why there are 12 figures worth of unsold inventory sitting on the market. 

“A huge pop of listings hit the market at the start of spring, and there weren’t enough buyers to go around,” said Matt Purdy, a Redfin Premier agent in Denver. “House hunters are only buying if they absolutely have to, and even serious buyers are backing out of contracts more than they used to. Buyers have a window to get a deal; there’s still a surplus of inventory on the market, with sellers facing reality and willing to negotiate prices down.”

Contrast today’s total value of inventory with the red-hot pandemic-era housing market, defined by tight supply. The total value of listings dropped to $309 billion in January 2022, the lowest dollar value in our records, which date back to 2012. At the start of 2022, mortgage rates were sitting at a near-record-low of 3.1%, homebuyers were hungry, and home supply was at its lowest level on record. Homes were flying off the market in 24 days, compared to today’s pace of 40 days. 

Meanwhile, look at the spread between current mortgage rates and the average effective rate for all homeowners…

And then we have construction spending, which has fallen the most since COVID:

44% of Listings Have Been Lingering on the Market For 60+ Days

More than two in five (44%) listings in April had been on the market for at least 60 days without going under contract, which we refer to in this report as “stale inventory.” That’s up from 42.1% a year earlier, and the highest April share since 2020, when the start of the pandemic ground the housing market to a halt. 

There’s $331 Billion Worth of Stale Inventory on the Market

The total value of that stale inventory is $331 billion, which accounts for nearly half of the dollar value of all inventory. That’s up 20.5% year over year. 

“The record-high dollar value of all homes listed for sale is one way to quantify this buyer’s market,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research. “Not only are there more homes for sale than there have been in five years, but the value of those homes is higher than it has ever been. We expect rising inventory, weakened demand, and the prevalence of stale supply to push home prices down 1% by the end of this year, which should improve affordability for buyers because incomes are still going up.”

500,000 More Sellers than Buyers?!

As Redfin reported late last week, there are 34% more sellers in the market than buyers. 

There are an estimated 1.9 million home sellers in the U.S. housing market and an estimated 1.5 million homebuyers. In other words, there are 33.7% more sellers than buyers (or 490,041 more, to be exact). At no other point in records dating back to 2013 have sellers outnumbered buyers by this large of a number or percentage. A year ago, sellers outnumbered buyers by just 6.5%, and two years ago, buyers outnumbered sellers.

There haven’t been this many home sellers since March 2020. There haven’t been this few buyers at any point in records dating back to 2013 aside from April 2020, when the onset of the coronavirus pandemic brought the housing market to a halt.

The most recent data point in this analysis is April 2025. The estimated number of sellers in the market is simply the number of active listings in the MLS. To estimate the number of buyers, we created a model that uses data on pending sales and the typical time from a buyer’s first tour to their purchase. Scroll down for a full methodology and data on the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas. 

Redfin earlier this month predicted that home prices will drop 1% year over year by the end of 2025, and the growing imbalance between buyers and sellers is the basis for that prediction. When sellers are competing for a small pool of buyers, that indicates a buyer’s market. And when it’s a buyer’s market, home prices can fall because buyers have negotiating power. 

Sellers outnumber buyers for several reasons:

• It’s expensive to buy a home: High home prices and mortgage rates are scaring buyers off. The median home sale price rose 1.6% year over year to $431,931 in April. That’s the slowest growth in nearly two years, but monthly housing payments still hit a record high last month because mortgage rates and prices remain elevated. The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.73% in April—more than double the record low hit during the pandemic. 
• Economic uncertainty: Tariff talks, layoffs, and federal policy changes are among the other factors dampening homebuyer demand. A recent Redfin survey found that nearly 1 in 4 Americans is scrapping plans to make a major purchase due to tariffs. 
• The mortgage rate lock-in effect is easing: Homeowners who have been sitting on ultra-low mortgage rates they scored during the pandemic are now giving up those low rates and selling their homes. That’s because for most people, it’s not realistic to stay put forever; job changes, return to office mandates and divorce force people to move. The idea of taking on a higher mortgage rate also isn’t as shocking as it was when rates first skyrocketed in 2022. 

“The balance of power in the U.S. housing market has shifted toward buyers, but a lot of sellers have yet to see or accept the writing on the wall. Many are still holding out hope that their home is the exception and will fetch top dollar,” said Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan. “But as sellers see their homes sit longer on the market and notice fewer buyers coming through on tour, more of them will realize that the market has adjusted and reset their expectations accordingly.”

Sellers are already gaining more data points on this front, and will likely face another reality  check in the summer, when demand typically starts to slow. More than two of every five (44%) home listings in April had been on the market for 60 days or longer—the highest April share since 2020. Stale inventory is piling up in part because many sellers are overpricing their homes, using sky-high comps from the recent seller’s market that aren’t realistic today. In some cases, sellers are pricing high because they bought at the peak of the market and are trying to recoup their investment. 

The takeaway for sellers: Time is not on your side. If you are considering selling, do it sooner rather than later because home prices in your area may fall. If your home is already on the market and has been sitting for over a month, you may want to consider an improvement to your property or a reduction in price.

The takeaway for buyers: Many Americans have already been and will remain priced out of the housing market, even if prices decline. But for those who are still in the game, don’t get discouraged. Your purchasing power will increase if home prices fall, wages rise and mortgage rates remain steady as expected. Homes that would have been out of reach six months ago may come into reach as sellers entertain lower offers and concessions.

History Shows That Home Prices Cool When Sellers Outnumber Buyers

A change in the balance of buyers and sellers is a signal of what’s to come with home prices. Aside from the onset of the pandemic, the last time sellers significantly outnumbered buyers was around the time mortgage rates jumped in 2018.

In November 2018, the average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate peaked at 4.87%, which was the highest level in nearly eight years and almost a full percentage point higher than a year earlier. One month later, sellers outnumbered buyers by 9.4%—the largest percentage since 2015 and a reversal from the prior year, when buyers outnumbered sellers. Three months later, home-price growth shrunk to the lowest level in at least six years, with prices rising 2% from a year earlier to $283,912. 

We saw a similar dynamic take hold in 2013-2014. As shown in the chart below, swings in the ratio of buyers to sellers are typically followed by similar swings in home-price growth.

oday, the imbalance between buyers and sellers is even greater, meaning there’s more pressure on prices. Annual price growth has already slowed to 1.6% from 6.2% last spring, and we expect this trajectory to continue, ultimately causing prices to fall. The last time home prices posted a year-over-year decline was 2023. 

Even as mortgage rates surged in 2022, buyers outnumbered sellers. Sellers most recently started outnumbering buyers in November 2023—the month after mortgage rates hit the highest level in over two decades, peaking at almost 8%. Homebuyer demand has been sluggish ever since, and is likely to remain so given widespread economic uncertainty and recession fears. What has changed recently is more sellers have started entering the market. 

Read the rest of the report here…