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Kenyan Court Rejects Plan For US Ebola Quarantine Center Amid Growing Outbreak

Kenyan Court Rejects Plan For US Ebola Quarantine Center Amid Growing Outbreak

Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams

A day after US officials said Kenya had approved a request to open a quarantine center for Americans exposed to a rare strain of the Ebola virus, a court in the East African nation on Friday temporarily blocked the plan amid a growing outbreak in neighboring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The High Court prohibited the Kenyan government from establishing or operating any Ebola exposure, quarantine, isolation, or treatment facility in the country under any agreement with the United States or any other foreign government or agency.

Getty Images

The court also blocked Kenya’s government from allowing anyone infected with or exposed to Ebola into the country pending the outcome of the case, which was filed by the Katiba Institute, a civil rights group.

“At its core, the case is about preserving constitutional accountability, protecting public health, and ensuring that no government may place expediency above the lives and safety of the people of Kenya,” Katiba Institute executive director Nora Mbagathi said Thursday.

A 50-bed Ebola quarantine center was set to open Friday at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, located approximately 125 miles north of Nairobi. The facility would have been operated by members of the US Public Health Service, a uniformed branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday during a Cabinet meeting that “we cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.”

However, US public health officials strongly criticized the plan to quarantine Americans in Kenya instead of repatriating them, with one emergency physician accusing the Trump administration of “a dramatic abdication of what we owe our own.”

Elected leaders in Laikipia County welcomed the High Court’s ruling. They had opposed the US quarantine center, and had asked in a joint statement prior to the decision, “Why Laikipia?”

“What does the US government know about this that they are not accepting their own affected citizens into their soil but are ready to have them elsewhere?”

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU), which had strongly opposed the quarantine center and had threatened to strike, also welcomed the High Court ruling.

“We are utterly disgusted by the government’s apparent willingness to trade national biosecurity and the lives of its citizens for foreign aid,” KMPDU secretary general Davji Bhimji Attelah said in a statement Thursday, referring to the $13.5 million the Trump administration pledged for Ebola preparedness in Kenya, part of a broader $125 million US commitment toward fighting the disease.

“We will not sit back and watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony for a lethal pathogen that we did not generate,” Attelah added. “We will not tolerate an apartheid healthcare model on Kenyan soil. If it is too dangerous for America, it is too dangerous for Kenya.”

Critics say President Donald Trump’s ideologically driven decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO), his administration’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, and reduced funding for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global public health efforts have adversely affected the response to the current Ebola epidemic, compared with 2014 and 2019 outbreaks.

The WHO said Friday that there were a total of 906 suspected Ebola cases and 223 suspected deaths reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of Wednesday, and 125 confirmed cases in the DRC and 9 in Uganda, with 18 deaths among the confirmed cases in both countries.

Ebola—which typically kills between 25% and 90% of infected people, depending upon the strain of the virus and quality of available medical care—causes widespread and often catastrophic damage to the body’s blood vessels, immune system, and organs. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals, including fruit bats, porcupines, and non-human primates, and then spreads between humans through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of infected people.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 15:10

Why The SAVE Act Matters

Why The SAVE Act Matters

Authored by Stu Cvrk via American Greatness,

American self-governance rests on one indispensable foundation: that elections reflect the will of eligible citizens, counted accurately, administered transparently. Republicans and election integrity advocates argue that this foundation has been progressively undermined – not necessarily by a single grand conspiracy, but by a systemic pattern of loosened safeguards, dirty voter rolls, exploitable mail-ballot systems, and aggressive Democrat opposition to the audits and reforms that would resolve public doubt once and for all.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act – which polls at roughly 80 percent public support – would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. To its advocates, it is the minimum logical response to documented vulnerabilities in the registration and voting system. To its opponents, it is voter suppression. The fight over that characterization is itself a revealing indicator of where the parties stand on the fundamental question: do you want to know, or don’t you? And why!

Let’s examine the subject in some detail.

Note: the below analysis was written from a Republican/election-integrity-advocate perspective. Where allegations are unconfirmed or contested, they are labeled as such.

Part I: Confirmed And Documented Problems

1. Dirty Voter Rolls – A National Scandal

The evidence that American voter rolls are riddled with ineligible registrations is not in dispute. The only dispute is over whether they should be fixed.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, under Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon, reviewed voter rolls from just 16 voluntarily cooperating Republican-leaning states and found tens of thousands of apparent noncitizens and hundreds of thousands of dead people still registered to vote. The administration subsequently sued 29 states – including blue-state heavyweights California and New York, and swing states Arizona and Georgia – to compel production of voter roll data under the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.

In California, a review of voter rolls found registrations tied to P.O. boxes and individuals listed as 125 years old. In Colorado, a lawsuit forced the purge of 372,000 ineligible registrations. In Michigan, dead voters have been documented – some of whom show records of in-person voting after their deaths. In Oregon, similar anomalies have been reported. Judicial Watch has documented tens of thousands of names removed from rolls in multiple states, often only after litigation – raising the obvious question of why states resisted cleanup in the first place.

The consistent pattern: Republicans seek cleanup to remove any possibility that unauthorized people are voting in elections through fraud associated with ballot harvesting. Democrats sue to prevent it for the purposes of preventing disenfranchising eligible voters (with the unspoken reason to enable Democrat ballot harvesting).

2. Noncitizen Voting – Prosecuted Cases

Noncitizen voting is not a hypothetical. It is documented, prosecuted, and ongoing.

In Philadelphia, ICE and the FBI arrested Mahady Sacko, an illegal alien from Mauritania, for voting in seven federal elections dating to 2008 – despite a 2002 removal order. In Coldwater, Kansas, Mayor Joe Ceballos – a legal permanent resident from Mexico – resigned and faced charges after voting in multiple elections. These are not isolated cases; they are confirmed examples of a vulnerability that Republicans argue the SAVE Act would directly address.

3. Mail Ballot Fraud – A Proven Mechanism

Democrats and their media allies spent years insisting mail ballot fraud is vanishingly rare. The prosecution record tells a different story – of widespread, real, and exploitable vulnerabilities (over 1400 cases in this database).

In Pennsylvania, a grand jury indicted three Democrats – Mohammed Nurul Hasan, Mohammed Munsur Ali, and Mohammed Rafikul Islam – for attempting to steal the 2021 mayoral election in Millbourne. Using Pennsylvania’s online voter registration portal (PAOVR), they changed the registered addresses of nearly three dozen non-residents to Millbourne addresses, requested mail ballots on their behalf, filled them out, and submitted them. The system’s vulnerability: anyone with basic personal information about a voter could modify that voter’s registration and divert their ballot to any address in the world. The candidate lost anyway – but the mechanism worked. The “safeguards” the AP assured voters existed did not stop it.

In Minnesota, a duo pleaded guilty to flooding an election with fraudulent ballots. In Connecticut, a state employee was arrested for switching Republican voters’ registrations to Democrat without their knowledge. Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight organization was forced to pay the largest campaign finance violation fine in Georgia history.

4. ActBlue – Active Congressional Investigation With Significant Red Flags

This is not an allegation. This is an active, documented federal investigation backed by congressional subpoenas.

The House Judiciary, Oversight, and Administration Committees released a joint interim report in April 2026 finding that five current and former ActBlue employees – including its general counsel (fired), legal department personnel, and VP of customer service – collectively invoked the Fifth Amendment 146 times during depositions. Not once or twice. 146 times. Not a single substantive question was answered.

The report also found that ActBlue made its fraud-prevention rules more lenient twice during the 2024 election cycle, and that internal training materials directed fraud-prevention staff to “look for reasons to accept contributions” rather than scrutinize them. The entire legal and compliance team – every member – had resigned, been fired, or gone on extended leave by March 2025, in the months immediately following the election.

The New York Times – not a right-wing outlet – reported on the foreign donation concerns. Former Biden White House Counsel Dana Remus, working at ActBlue’s law firm Covington, reportedly warned that ActBlue’s CEO may have misrepresented facts to Congress. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan summarized the irony: Democrats spent a decade accusing Trump of foreign campaign collusion. The evidence of foreign money flowing into Democrat fundraising infrastructure is now the subject of formal congressional investigation.

5. Fulton County, Georgia – Missing Evidence, FBI Raids, And Unanswered Questions

Fulton County has become the symbolic epicenter of 2020 election integrity concerns, and for documented reasons.

In January 2026, the Georgia State Election Board revealed that investigators could not locate a single “zero tape” from Fulton County’s 148 early voting machines from the 2020 general election. Zero tapes are the legal documents that certify each ballot tabulator began counting at zero – preventing pre-loaded votes or test data from being counted as real votes. Their absence does not prove fraud. But their absence also cannot be explained away. A December 2025 admission by Fulton County’s attorney confirmed that more than 100 tabulator closing tapes – representing roughly 315,000 votes – were never signed by poll workers as required by law.

The week after the State Election Board meeting, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County election office, specifically seeking the zero tapes. The search warrant itself represents a federal judicial determination that probable cause existed to search. Fulton County has not produced a satisfactory accounting of what happened to these documents.

6. Democrat Opposition To Election Audits

A pattern election integrity advocates find telling: Democrats have consistently used legal action to delay, defund, or block full forensic audits of the 2020 election. A “full forensic audit” – as distinguished from the limited hand recounts most states conducted – would involve independent examination of ballot chain of custody, machine logs, cast vote records, envelope signatures, and precinct-level data.

No jurisdiction in the United States has completed a full forensic audit of the 2020 presidential election. In every jurisdiction where serious audit efforts have been launched, Democrat attorneys general or allied groups have filed litigation to impede them. Critics ask: if you’re confident in the result, why fight the audit?

Democrat AGs have also collectively challenged Trump’s executive order requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration, filing suit to block it. This resistance – to verification measures that most democracies consider standard – strikes election integrity advocates as its own form of evidence.

Part II: Serious But Unconfirmed Allegations

The following allegations have been raised by researchers, analysts, or investigators and are reported here as claims that merit investigation. They have not been confirmed by courts, federal law enforcement, or independent forensic auditors (yet). So-called election integrity reporters in the legacy have not bothered to investigate these troubling issues. They are presented because they are being actively investigated or because the underlying data patterns have not received adequate official explanation. Note: there are many other credible allegations besides the below that need to be investigated.

1. Statistical Anomalies In The 2020 Vote – Unexplained, Not Disproven

A team of scientists and engineers at election-integrity.info has published analyses of 2020 vote time-series data claiming to identify statistically improbable vote spikes – large batches of ballots reported in short windows heavily favoring Biden – that they argue cannot be explained by normal counting patterns. They also claim to have found instances of “negative votes” appearing in time-series data, which should be mathematically impossible.

Status: These analyses have not been independently replicated or accepted by mainstream statisticians. Election officials attribute large vote spikes to the batch-reporting of mail ballots. The “negative vote” claims may reflect data-entry artifacts or reporting methodology. However, no official body has conducted the granular time-series audit that would definitively address these claims. Unconfirmed – merits independent statistical review.

2. Wisconsin Voter File Algorithm

An analysis published in American Thinker in April 2025 claimed that a newly discovered algorithm embedded in Wisconsin’s voter file constitutes evidence of criminal election fraud, allegedly manipulating registration data in a systematic pattern.

Status: This claim has not been verified by Wisconsin election officials or independent computer scientists with access to the underlying data. The Wisconsin Elections Commission disputes it. Unconfirmed – requires independent forensic examination of the voter file.

3. ActBlue “Smurfing” – Foreign Donors Using Straw Americans

Beyond the confirmed Fifth Amendment invocations and congressional investigation, some analysts allege a specific mechanism: foreign money flowing into ActBlue via thousands of small donations made under the names of unwitting or fictitious American donors – a practice known as “smurfing.” Data published at electionwatch.info purports to show state-by-state patterns of anomalous small-dollar donations. One Arizona state senator filed a whistleblower complaint making specific allegations along these lines.

Status: The congressional investigation is active, and this specific mechanism is under subpoena. The pattern data is suggestive but has not been verified through forensic banking analysis. Partially confirmed as an investigation target – specific smurfing allegations unconfirmed pending investigation.

4. Chinese Source Code In Voting Machines

Allegations have circulated – amplified by Rasmussen polling commentary – that Chinese-origin source code was found embedded in digital voting machines used in U.S. elections.

Status: No federal agency has publicly confirmed this finding. The claim appears to originate from researchers without access to machine firmware through official channels. The DHS’s Albert intrusion detection system was reportedly subject to failures during the 2020 cycle, which raises cybersecurity questions, but this does not confirm Chinese code insertion. Unconfirmed. Serious enough to warrant official investigation with full transparency.

5. CCP Influence Operations In The 2020 Election

Reporting from Just the News and others has alleged that intelligence analysts suppressed findings about Chinese Communist Party interference in the 2020 election – favoring Biden – and that the NSA intercepted communications involving foreign government discussions about routing money to U.S. campaigns.

Status: That China preferred Biden over Trump in 2020 is assessed by the intelligence community. The specific allegations about suppressed intelligence and money routing have not been confirmed through declassified documents or prosecutions. Former CBS reporter Catherine Herridge has amplified related reporting. Partially confirmed as an assessment (China preference); specific money-routing and suppression allegations unconfirmed.

6. USAID Laundering Into The 2024 Biden Campaign

Allegations have been published claiming USAID funds – U.S. taxpayer money routed through NGOs – were used to support the 2024 Biden-Harris campaign operation, effectively constituting illegal government funding of a political campaign through a laundering mechanism.

Status: As a result of DOGE discoveries, USAID was dramatically restructured under the Trump administration, in part over concerns about politicized spending. Specific documentation of funds flowing to the Biden campaign has not been verified through official audit or prosecution. Unconfirmed – active area of government review.

7. Pakistan And Foreign National Voting

Reports from Gateway Pundit and allied outlets have alleged that Pakistani nationals who have never set foot in the United States have nonetheless appeared on American voter rolls and may have cast ballots.

Status: The mechanism by which this could occur at scale is not established. Individual instances of foreign national registration are documented (see Part I), but systematic Pakistani voting is unconfirmed. Unconfirmed.

8. The Directional Pattern: All Fraud Benefits Democrats

One of the most rhetorically powerful arguments made by election integrity advocates is that virtually every confirmed or alleged instance of election fraud benefits Democrats, not Republicans. If fraud were random, one would expect roughly equal distribution. The pattern, they argue, is not random.

Status: This argument is worth taking seriously as a statistical observation. Confirmed fraud cases (Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Connecticut, etc.) trend Democrat – which helps explain Democrat resistance to the SAVE Act. Democrats support illegal aliens voting in US elections, support and incentivize ballot harvesting, and employ lawfare to fight virtually all Republican-sponsored election integrity laws, cleaning up voter rolls, and conducting full forensic audits of election results. All of this increases the probability of election fraud. When it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.

Concluding Thoughts

Whether one accepts all, some, or none of the unconfirmed allegations above, the documented problems alone – dirty voter rolls, noncitizen registrations, exploitable mail ballot systems, resistance to audits, foreign money concerns – provide ample justification for the SAVE Act’s core requirement: prove you are a citizen before registering to vote in a federal election. The SAVE Act is a logical response.

The American people apparently understand the issue quite well. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 59 percent of U.S. voters believe it’s likely that there will be widespread cheating that will affect the outcome of this fall’s congressional elections. And more than 80 percent across all political parties and racial groups support the SAVE Act.

Opponents (elected Democrats and their activist base) argue this will disenfranchise legitimate voters who lack documentation. Proponents respond that the same logic would argue against requiring ID to board a plane or open a bank account – that the burden of documented citizenship is minimal and the protection it provides is substantial. Every other major democracy requires some form of citizenship verification for electoral participation.

The ~80 percent public support for the SAVE Act reflects a simple intuition: in a self-governing republic, the franchise belongs to citizens. Verifying citizenship is not suppression. Resisting verification – when the voter rolls demonstrably contain ineligible registrations – is not protection of democracy. It is protection of a system that benefits those who prefer less scrutiny.

The American people deserve to know that their elections are clean. The SAVE Act is a start. Full forensic auditing capacity, completed without legal obstruction, would be the finish. Neither should be controversial in a country that claims to believe in democracy.

After all, don’t the Democrats want to “save our democracy”?

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 14:00

US Military Hasn’t Identified A Single Confirmed Mine In Strait Of Hormuz, Officials Tell NBC

US Military Hasn’t Identified A Single Confirmed Mine In Strait Of Hormuz, Officials Tell NBC

Just a few hours after President Trump boasted that the US Navy had detonated “numerous” Iranian sea mines, NBC News reported that, even after three months of warfare, the US military has yet to confirm the presence of even a single mine in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz

Citing two US officials and a “person familiar with the matter,” NBC said relentless searches of the waterway by aerial and undersea drones haven’t found any confirmed mines, merely finding some objects that might be mines. “If anything, the threat has been far less robust than we had feared,” the person “familiar with the matter” told NBC. 

The USS Santa Barbara, a littoral combat ship, is configured for minesweeping duties (Navy photo)

Around the time Trump decided to join Israel in launching a war on Iran in the midst of ongoing negotiations in which Tehran had offered major concessions along the lines of what Trump is demanding today, US intelligence officials believed Iran had placed mines on the south side of the strait ahead of the shooting or shortly thereafter, said NBC. Allies had likewise reportedly concluded that Iran had deployed sea mines. The mine menace was said to be so formidable that, in April, a Pentagon official speaking to US legislators in a classified session said that fully clearing the strait of mines could take six months.  

In a Friday morning social media post in which he foreshadowed a potential ceasefire agreement that would end restrictions on commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump boasted that the US Navy had “removed, through detonation, numerous such mines with our great underwater mine sweepers.” 

The NBC report seemingly contradicts multiple CBS News reports. Most recently, on May 19, the outlet reported that US intelligence had identified “at least 10 mines” in the strait. Back in March CBS reported that an official said there were at least a dozen, while another one said fewer than a dozen. CBS attributed this information to officials who weren’t named. 

The potential presence of mines has weighed heavily on the minds of ship owners and –more importantly — shipping-insurance underwriters who’ve terminated existing coverage and offered new protection at prohibitively expensive rates. Of course, mines aren’t the only weapon at Iran’s disposal: drones and missiles can wreak havoc as well. 

Last week, there were reports that the UK Royal Navy was making moves for a potential deployment of hundreds of sailors on a mine-sweeping mission in the strait. However, as we emphasized, AP reported that this potential deployment would only proceed if a peace agreement were reached, suggesting it’s principally a gesture meant to placate Trump, who has pestered NATO allies to help remedy the massive, strait-centered economic disruption caused by the US-Israeli decision to launch a war on Iran over a nuclear weapon program that almost certainly does not exist

In March, Trump ranted against nations that were anxious over the shutting of a waterway that transports about 20% of the world’s petroleum, in addition to about a third of international fertilizer trade: “Go to the strait and just take it. You have to start learning how to fight for yourself. Go get your own oil.” Days later, he said, “The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz Strait and won’t be taking any in the future. We don’t need it. We haven’t needed it and we don’t need it.”

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 13:25

What To Own Before A Bond Market Crisis

What To Own Before A Bond Market Crisis

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

As I wrote last week, foreign Treasury selling with yields already on the rise has perked up my attention.

For decades, investors have treated U.S. Treasuries as the ultimate safe haven. In nearly every major panic, money rushed into government bonds, not away from them.

But with deficits surging, interest costs climbing, and foreign demand for Treasuries no longer as unquestioned as it once was, some investors have started asking a different question: if the Treasury market itself ever came under severe stress, what assets could potentially hold up best?

The answer is far from straightforward, and it is important to emphasize that a true Treasury crisis remains a relatively low-probability scenario because the entire global financial system is built around the assumption that U.S. government debt remains stable.

Still, in a worst-case bond market environment, some assets appear structurally better positioned than others, so I wanted to explore potential ideas.

The first thing to understand is that a Treasury market crisis would likely not look like a normal recession or stock-market decline. It would probably involve some combination of rapidly rising yields, liquidity stress, foreign selling, repo-market dysfunction, and emergency intervention by the Federal Reserve.

In that environment, traditional portfolio assumptions could break down. Assets that usually offset equity weakness might suddenly move in the same direction as stocks, while investors search for anything perceived as insulated from sovereign debt instability or inflation risk.

Gold is usually the first asset investors discuss in this context, and for understandable reasons. Gold does not depend on the fiscal credibility of any government, has no counterparty risk, and has historically performed best during periods of monetary instability, negative real interest rates, or declining confidence in fiat currencies. If policymakers responded to Treasury stress with large-scale money printing or yield suppression, gold could potentially benefit from concerns about inflation and currency debasement.

As I’ve often written, that does not mean gold would rise immediately during a crisis. In sudden liquidity panics, investors often sell whatever they can. But over a longer horizon, many macro investors view gold as one of the clearest hedges against sovereign debt instability. If I wanted equity market exposure to gold, I’d be in miner ETFs like the GDX and GDXJ. For exposure to the metal itself, I’d want physical bullion.


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Commodity-related assets could also potentially perform well if Treasury stress translated into structurally higher inflation or a weaker dollar. Energy producers, industrial metals, agricultural assets, and infrastructure tied to real economic demand have historically held up better than purely financial assets during inflationary periods. The logic is fairly simple: when governments attempt to stabilize debt-heavy systems through monetary expansion, tangible assets often retain purchasing power more effectively than nominal claims.

That does not guarantee commodity outperformance, especially if a crisis triggered a deep recession, but hard assets are one of the few areas many investors believe could potentially emerge stronger from prolonged fiscal deterioration. Here is a list of commodity ETFs that could be helpful.

One of the more important distinctions in a Treasury-stress environment would likely be between short-term and long-term government debt. Investors often think of “bonds” as a single category, but duration matters enormously. Long-dated Treasuries are highly sensitive to rising yields, meaning they could suffer badly if investors began demanding higher compensation for inflation or sovereign risk. Short-duration cash instruments, on the other hand, mature quickly and can reprice much faster. In a severe stress scenario, investors might still want liquidity and safety, but they may prefer instruments that are not locked into low fixed rates for decades. In other words, the problem may not necessarily be government debt itself so much as long-duration exposure to it.

Read about multiple other assets I think could outperform during a bond market crisis here

QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page hereThis post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions.

As of May 20, 2026 I no longer actively trade (read my story here) and my accounts are managed by recurring contributions to trusted third parties and advisors and/or recurring contributions mostly to sector ETFs. Such advisors, through individual equities, options, index funds, mutual funds, ETFs, or other securities, may have positions in names that I know nothing about. Basically, I could own or not own anything at any point, and not have any idea about it.

And all positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.

The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 12:50

Moscow Signs Military Partnership With Taliban In Full Circle Since CIA’s Operation Cyclone

Moscow Signs Military Partnership With Taliban In Full Circle Since CIA’s Operation Cyclone

Via The Cradle

Russia and the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan have reached a military and technical cooperation agreement, Russian news outlet Interfax reported this week. 

The deal was concluded during the International Security Forum held in Moscow. According to the report by Interfax’s correspondent, Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob held talks with Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergei Shoigu on the sidelines of the event.

Russian MoD, via X

During the meeting, Yaqoob said that engagement with Russia is important for the Taliban-led administration and that both sides have been expanding their bilateral relations. He added that Afghanistan and Russia share historic ties and that Kabul aims to maintain and strengthen those relations.

Shoigu urged western countries to release Afghanistan’s frozen assets and take responsibility for the country’s reconstruction during the event.

“We are convinced that western countries must unfreeze frozen Afghan assets, fully acknowledge their full responsibility for their 20-year presence in Afghanistan, and assume the entire burden of post-conflict reconstruction of the country,” Shoigu said.

One day later, on Thursday, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Vasily Osmakov met with Yaqoob in Moscow to discuss regional security and potential bilateral military cooperation.

According to the ministry, the two sides addressed security issues in Central and South Asia, as well as the outlook for cooperation between their armed forces, including areas of military collaboration.

Russia was the first to recognize the Taliban-led state that assumed control in Afghanistan in 2021. The recognition took place in July 2025. 

US troops launched a hasty and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s 2021 victory and subsequent takeover of the country. 

The US military left behind large amounts of equipment. An internal State Department review from 2023 attributed the chaotic evacuation to poor planning.

We’ve come a long way since the era of Operation Cyclone…

Since then, the country has remained blocked from accessing around $9 billion in frozen Afghan assets. Washington controls the vast majority of these funds via the New York Federal Reserve Bank. 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 11:40

Iran Poised To Finalize Hormuz Strait Management Plan, Brushing Aside Trump’s Threats

Iran Poised To Finalize Hormuz Strait Management Plan, Brushing Aside Trump’s Threats

Iran’s state Tasnim is saying the US naval blockade remains in effect, despite days of headlines of a ‘finalized’ US-Iran deal, which were clearly premature – though both sides still signal they are close to agreeing on a Memorandum of Understanding. But this is toward simply extending the ceasefire by 60-days in order to get back to the table, in hopes of finally ending the war based on a final deal.

Despite President Trump’s latest warning which declared strict conditions on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran appears to be completely brushing his words aside, and is moving closer to formalizing its authority over vital energy shipping waterway.

via Palestine Chronicle

State-run Nour News is reporting that a bill outlining Tehran’s role in managing passage through the strategic waterway has been finalized and is expected to be brought to a vote soon.

According to Bloomberg, Iranian lawmaker Alireza Salimi did not provide a specific timeline for the vote but said the legislation is on track to become law. Salimi said that “only Iran and Oman can decide on Strait of Hormuz management” – adding that “the Omani side has given preliminary approval” to Tehran’s plan.

He further emphasized the strategic importance of Hormuz, declaring that “the Strait of Hormuz is more important and more valuable to the Islamic Republic of Iran than dozens of nuclear bombs.”

Previous comments by Salimi indicate the bill would cover shipping security, the collection of navigation and environmental pollution fees, as well as the creation of a regional development and progress fund – all of which critics have dismissed as but Tehran’s ruse to collect what is in effect a “toll”.

The legislation is expected to undergo review by Iran’s Guardian Council, which is responsible for vetting and approving all laws before they take effect.

President Trump has sternly warned against the Islamic Republic and Oman teaming up to assert control over the strait. As a reminder, during a Wednesday televised cabinet meeting he said as follows:

“No, the strait’s got to be open to everybody; it’s international waters,” the president told reporters. “We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we have.”

“They would like to control it; nobody’s going to control it. It’s international waters,” he continued. “And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow ’em up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

In the wake of this, Iran has been expressing solidarity with Oman. As reported in The Hill:

Iran reupped its backing for Oman on Thursday, after President Trump warned the latter nation to “behave” or face consequences.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a statement that Iran would support the Gulf nation, which is separated from Iran by the Strait of Hormuz, against U.S. threats, Reuters reported. He also criticized recent strikes in Bandar Abbas, a southern port city.

The irony in all of this is that Oman has long been an American ally in the region, though is also often called the “Switzerland of the Middle East” for its diplomatic and mediatory role in regional disputes.

Despite generally positive relations with Washington going back years and even decades, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent chastized Oman, stating on X Thursday: “The United States Government will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved – directly or indirectly – in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized,” Bessent stated. “All nations should reject outright any efforts by Iran to disrupt the free flow of commerce. Tehran’s days of terrorizing the region and the world are over.”

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 11:05

Crypto And AI Could Be Dirty Words On 2026 Midterm Campaign Trail

Crypto And AI Could Be Dirty Words On 2026 Midterm Campaign Trail

Authored by Aaron Wood via CoinTelegraph.com,

The AI and crypto industries have made headlines over the past year thanks to the impressive war chests amassed by corporate political action committees (PACs).

Profligate spending during the last federal elections in the US has led to unprecedented policy changes favoring the crypto industry, with indications that a full legislative framework in the form of the CLARITY Act is on its way to becoming law. 

But this hasn’t endeared the crypto industry to voters. Recent polls from Politico show distrust of the crypto industry, and the electorate isn’t sold on the benefits of AI.

“Voters across the ideological spectrum are raising concerns,” Michael Beckel, director of money in politics reform at Issue One, told Cointelegraph. “Some candidates on both sides of the aisle are trying to harness that frustration and outrage.”

Voters don’t trust crypto and don’t believe AI benefits them

According to the recent poll by Public First for Politico, most Americans don’t trust crypto and don’t believe in the benefits of AI. 

Source: Politico

While Republican voters are somewhat more likely to trust crypto, 47% of Americans overall trust a traditional bank over a crypto platform, while 17% trust a crypto platform as much as a traditional bank. 

The numbers for AI aren’t great either. Some 43% of Americans overall believe that the risks outweigh the benefits, while 33% believe the inverse. 

Source: Politico

Currently, most people haven’t heard about the major crypto and AI lobbies. According to Politico, only nine percent have heard of AI Super PAC Leading the Future. Only three percent have heard of pro-crypto PAC Fairshake.

That’s not much compared to public awareness of large lobbies like the National Rifle Association or the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which are practically household names.

Still, association with crypto could be a problem. Ohio Republican Representative Jim Renacci told Politico, “I do think if they see somebody is backed by crypto, that’s always going to be a problem, because, let’s face it, the people that I talk to in Ohio, they don’t understand crypto, and most say they’re not comfortable with [it].”

Improving awareness around crypto lobbies may not help them much. Rick Claypool, research director at Public Citizen, told Cointelegraph:

“Generally speaking, voters are against corporate money influencing politics.”

“Even after Citizens United, the norm had been for big, brand-name corporations not to engage directly. Or when they did engage, they would often contribute through dark money groups that obscure their funding source.”

In this regard, the crypto industry’s spending spree in 2024 was somewhat unusual. Major contributors like Coinbase or a16z weren’t shy about the millions of dollars they put into campaigns.

But even then, “the voter-facing message from Fairshake was never about crypto, which voters never really cared about.” Mailers and ad buys reflected the supported candidates’ positions more broadly, or sometimes attacked those of the perceived anti-crypto candidate. 

Overall, “candidates who are seen as not beholden to corporate interests have an electoral edge,” said Claypool. This was true for populist candidates like US Senator Bernie Sanders and even US President Donald Trump, who claimed during his 2016 campaign that “he was so rich he could not be bought, which is laughable in hindsight.” 

If awareness about crypto — and crypto’s concerted efforts to influence policy — increases among the electorate, it may not shake out well. 

Issue One’s Beckel said, “If voters view an industry as toxic, that can have serious implications for candidates who don’t want to be perceived as too close to a controversial company or industry.”

Grassroots organize against AI, crypto gets its day in Washington

Voter dissatisfaction with a certain industry has translated into real action. 

Beckel noted a recent example when voter attitudes about the oil and fossil fuel lobby were enough to get some Democratic candidates to swear off any contributions. Beckel said that some organizations are already urging lawmakers to forswear any contributions from AI lobbies.

Indeed, there has been a grassroots movement growing against the AI industry more directly, namely the construction of the highly expensive and resource-intensive data centers. Local movements in seven states have blocked or delayed over $64 billion in data center investment. One state, Maine, is poised to introduce a state-wide ban.

Municipalities in California, Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Indiana and Virginia have banned or delayed projects. Source: Data Center Watch

According to Claypool, this could prove a great opportunity for Congressional candidates “to seize the grassroots momentum against data centers and Big Tech for Democrats in particular, but not exclusively, since the tech sector has so fully enmeshed itself with the Trump administration.”

This increasing partisan alignment could also affect how voters perceive these industries. 

Jason Thielman, former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that the crypto industry has attempted to “maintain a degree of bipartisanship and identify people whom they think will be champions on these issues.”

But even as the lobby claims to be bipartisan — Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called crypto “the most bipartisan issue” in DC — its priorities like deregulation and withdrawn enforcement lean mostly, but not exclusively, Republican, said Claypool.

Claypool said that “crypto billionaires have tried to present themselves as scrappy underdogs against Wall Street.”

“But that’s a less compelling argument now that crypto allies run, in addition to the White House, the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, the Treasury Dept., and the Commerce Dept.”

Furthermore, the sector has become deeply tied to Trump himself after the president’s full embrace of the industry in 2024, as well as pardons for convicted crypto execs and his use of crypto for his own personal enrichment. 

With Trump’s popularity sliding due to geopolitical bungles, an unpredictable economic outlook and controversial policies at home, having ties to him and his party may carry political risk.

In a Democratic Illinois Senate primary, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton accused her opponent Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of being backed by big money from “MAGA-backed crypto bros.” She won by seven points. 

It could also influence future policymaking. Said Beckel, “If an industry is viewed as a friend of one party and enemy of another, it may be more likely to be in the crosshairs or under the microscope when the other party is in power.”

For crypto and AI, that moment may come as soon as Nov. 4.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 10:30

“Brief Exchange”: Top U.S., Cuban Military Leaders Meet At Edge Of Guantanamo Base

“Brief Exchange”: Top U.S., Cuban Military Leaders Meet At Edge Of Guantanamo Base

Three weeks after CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana, reopening a political backchannel between Washington and the Cuban government, a rare military-to-military meeting unfolded at the edge of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

U.S. Southern Command wrote on X that Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, met with Cuban Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo and other officers at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for what SOUTHCOM described as a “brief exchange on operational security matters.”

SOUTHCOM did not elaborate on the brief exchange between top U.S. military brass in the region and Cuban generals. No statement was issued by the U.S. Embassy in Havana, leaving the meeting framed as yet another signal that U.S.-Cuba talks are strengthening.  

In mid-May, CIA Director John Ratcliffe held high-level talks with Cuba’s Interior Minister, the head of Cuban intelligence, and Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raulito Rodríguez Castro.

Havana’s communist government released a statement noting that the meeting “took place Thursday, May 14, against a backdrop of complex bilateral relations.”

AP noted that Cuban officials presented a report to Ratcliffe and his team, claiming to demonstrate that the communist-run island poses no threat to U.S. national security.

Meanwhile…

Increased back channeling has come amid a sharp escalation in U.S.-Cuba tensions. The Trump administration has been pressing Havana for sweeping economic and political reforms, while the U.S. naval blockade on fuel shipments remains in place.

President Trump has repeatedly warned Havana about military intervention. The Justice Department last week unsealed an indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five others of the communist regime.

Also, the Treasury Department subpoenaed far-left influencer Hasan Piker over his trip to Cuba. He and CCP-aligned NGOs that went to Cuba are being investigated by officials to determine if they violated U.S. sanctions and laws.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 09:55

Leftist German Party Leader Forced To Correct Lies About AfD Leader, Pay Her Legal Fees

Leftist German Party Leader Forced To Correct Lies About AfD Leader, Pay Her Legal Fees

Via Remix News,

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has successfully sued the Left Party leader and won a retraction after she spread falsehoods about Weidel on live television.

In mid-May, Ines Schwerdtner, the federal chairwoman of the Left Party, claimed during an interview on Welt TV that Wediel neither resides in Germany nor pays taxes. 

“Alice Weidel doesn’t even live in Germany, she doesn’t pay taxes here,” she told viewers.

This statement is false.

While Weidel spends much of her time with her family in Switzerland, she has her primary residence in Germany and pays taxes in the Federal Republic of Germany. Weidel has been very guarded about the issue over the years, as she faces a high threat level and avoids appearing in public due to the security threat she lives under.

AfD leader has family taken to safe house and cancels rally due to attack threat

Weidel’s lawyers explained in a warning letter, cited by Junge Freiheit, that this claim was false, as their client both lived in Germany and paid taxes. 

The law firm Höcker filed a lawsuit on the AfD’s behalf seeking an injunction. Weidel’s lawyers also demanded that Schwerdtner ensure the relevant passage was deleted from Welt TV’s programming.

Furthermore, the lawsuit calls on the Left Party leader to acknowledge the “claim for damages.”

Following this, Schwerdtner’s lawyer sent a letter to the Höcker law firm stating that their client had “indeed made a mistake.” The Left Party leader additionally undertook to “refrain” from making the false statement that Weidel does not pay taxes in Germany. 

The letter also pointed out that the interview in question on Welt TV had since been deleted by the broadcaster. Furthermore, Schwerdtner stated that she would transfer the legal fees “within one week.”

Germany: Left Party wants voting rights for all foreigners who have lived in the country for 5 years

Weidel’s press spokesman, Daniel Tapp, told JF that in politics one “shouldn’t be too sensitive in principle.”

However, when “blatant falsehoods are being spread, one cannot let them stand unchallenged.” 

The AfD has been surging in the polls, with one survey last week showing it hitting a record 42 percent in Saxony, double the support of the second-place Christian Democrats (CDU).

Germany: Anti-immigration AfD soars to record high 42% in state of Saxony, nears absolute majority

A poll in May showed the AfD at 29 percent at the national level, while the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) fell to 22 percent.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 09:20

Intercepted Iranian Missile Damages U.S. Reaper Drones, Injures Five At Kuwaiti Air Base

Intercepted Iranian Missile Damages U.S. Reaper Drones, Injures Five At Kuwaiti Air Base

An Iranian Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missile targeted Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base, a key operational hub for the U.S. Air Force’s expeditionary forces in the Gulf region.

An initial report from Bloomberg News indicates that Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted the tactical ballistic missile in the last 24 hours, but falling debris struck part of the base, injuring five Americans and damaging one MQ-9 Reaper drone while severely damaging another.

About five people, including both contractors and active duty personnel, suffered minor injuries, the person said. One Reaper was destroyed and at least one other was seriously damaged. -BBG

News of the strike on ASAB, where the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing under U.S. Air Forces Central acts as a forward logistics, airlift, and combat-power gateway for the broader CENTCOM theater, comes as the US and Iran on Friday reached a tentative memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire by 60 days and restart nuclear negotiations. However, the proposal still requires final approval from President Trump, according to U.S. officials cited by Fox News.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also indicated yesterday that Washington is maintaining maximum leverage, saying sanctions relief will remain off the table unless Tehran reopens the Hormuz chokepoint, transfers highly enriched uranium, and accepts that it cannot maintain a nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore overnight, where he said the US military is prepared to resume strikes against Iran if negotiations over the nuclear program collapse.

“Any deal will be a good one. A great one,” Hegseth said Trump told him. “And if Iran doesn’t want to make a great deal that ensures they don’t get a nuclear weapon, they can deal with the guy on my left,” he added, referring to the War Department.

“We are more than capable,” Hegseth noted in reference to a renewed military strike against Tehran. “Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe.”

Hegseth’s remarks came just hours after Trump met with officials in the White House Situation Room to discuss the next phase of negotiations with Iran.

“The Situation Room meeting has concluded and lasted approximately two hours. President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines. Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon,” a White House official said in a statement issued late Friday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry commented on the memorandum of understanding between the two nations, stating that nothing has been finalized yet.

News of progress toward a peace deal comes as energy experts warn of an energy cliff that could emerge as soon as next month if the Hormuz chokepoint remains closed.

It’s clear that inventories, floating storage, rerouted cargoes, emergency substitutions, and rationing have absorbed the initial shock of lost Gulf-area crude, offsetting the roughly 10 million barrels of oil that weren’t reaching their intended destinations each day. Additionally, daily headlines have pushed Brent crude futures to $91 per barrel by Friday afternoon.

But as we’ve warned, if the Hormuz chokepoint doesn’t reopen in the near term, crude oil could soon be aggressively repriced higher, as those inventories are being drained at an alarming rate.

Latest on the energy market:

Latest Bloomberg headlines:

US Naval Blockade

  • The US continues its blockade of Iranian vessels, with the US Central Command attempting to stop Iranian vessels seeking to pass through the blockaded area by issuing warnings along the blockade line.

  • US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is still in place as of Saturday morning.

Iranian Missile Attacks

  • An Iranian ballistic missile strike on Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem Air Base within the past 24 hours caused minor injuries to several Americans and seriously damaged two MQ-9 Reaper strike drones.

  • Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted the Fateh-110 missile, but falling debris struck the air base.

Ceasefire Negotiations

  • The US and Iran have reached a preliminary deal to extend a ceasefire by 60 days and discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, but President Trump has yet to agree to the terms.

  • Trump left a two-hour Situation Room meeting on Friday without deciding on the possible deal, despite earlier suggesting an agreement was near.

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that the US is ready to restart attacks on Iran if a deal cannot be reached.

Strait of Hormuz Transit

  • Iran state TV reports that 2 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours.

  • The US affirmed that deals with Iran to sail through the Strait of Hormuz safely are prohibited, regardless of whether a payment is made.

  • Several vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz have been attacked in recent days, according to the Chevron CEO.

  • Qatar opposes permanent legal fees for transit through the Strait of Hormuz, but a temporary fee for mine-clearing purposes is negotiable.

Polymarket:

Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal by June 15?
Yes 8% · No 93%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

US x Iran permanent peace deal by June 7, 2026?
Yes 14% · No 86%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

The clock is ticking for a deal to avert an energy cliff that top energy experts warn is near.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/30/2026 – 08:45