Big Brother is a character in George Orwell’s novel 1984, the entity that governs Oceania, through the tyrannical single party – the Ingsoc. No one knows about it, but it is omnipresent through telescreens with strong propaganda and controlling everything.
An article written by Steve Watson in Modernity.news, gives an account of how the surveillance state has found its new frontier: the dashboard of your car. What was once a symbol of American freedom and independence, automobiles are rapidly transforming into a high-tech cage that watches their every move and can override their decisions at will.
In a post shared on X, users detailed the multiple complaints about Subaru’s improved “EyeSight” AI system, which is present in the latest models. According to drivers, the system gets quick glimpses beyond their intentions to plan their route. At the same time, Biden-era federal mandates were put in place to make this level of surveillance mandatory on every new vehicle by 2027.
They even catch a momentary glance to change a song or admire the landscape and activate constant alerts. Thus, its new Emergency Stop Assist with Safe Lane Selection function can detect an “unresponsive” driver and issue increasing alerts through sounds and vibrations at the steering wheel, and then take full control: automatically brake, reduce the vehicle’s speed, direct it to the side of the road, and activate hazard lights.
This is not an optional trick but would be imposed by the state. It’s being rolled out as standard “safety” technology, but drivers call it a domineering electronic babysitter who treats competent adults like children. It serves as a chilling preview of where the entire auto industry is headed under government pressure.
This type of intrusive surveillance is precisely the tool that a police state would dream of to exert total control over personal movements. If authorities achieve deeper integration with these systems, they could effectively decide when, where, and who can drive.
The launch of Subaru is just the latest sticking point in a broader push toward vehicle surveillance that goes far beyond basic security. A federal mandate – included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 – requires all new passenger vehicles sold in the US to include advanced drunk or drug-impaired driving prevention technology, starting with 2027 model years.
As detailed in the New York Post report, this means infrared cameras and sensors that constantly monitor eyes, faces, head position, and behavior for distractions, drowsiness, or deterioration, with the power to prevent the car from starting or limit its operation. It seems very appropriate, but it implies a great deal of arbitrariness if it comes into the hands of bureaucrats.
Manufacturers are already patenting and deploying even more aggressive systems, including biometric scans that analyze everything from gait to heart rate to AI face scanning, lip reading, and emotional monitoring. The problem is that the data won’t stay in the car: it could make its way to insurers for risk scoring, law enforcement, or worse, to the knowledge of Big Brother: as cross-checks of drivers with police databases, before the vehicle is even allowed to move.
Authorities are already showing interest in using these tools as a weapon for broader travel restrictions. In Massachusetts, Democrats introduced a bill aimed at reducing vehicle miles traveled statewide to meet climate goals, pushing policies that critics say amount to limiting the distance people can drive in their own cars, clearly limiting their freedom.
Globalist agendas – usually driven by left-wing statists – on climate, excessive big-government intervention, and forced cooperation between business and state converge to strip away the last vestiges of personal autonomy on the roads. What starts as “safety features” and “environmental goals” ends with the car deciding personal freedom, to the point of deciding who can leave the garage.
It is not only the statists of the left who try to monitor in order to control, but also those of the right. For example, the president of Argentina has had meetings with Peter Thiel, surrounded by controversy over the publication of a manifesto by his surveillance company Palantir that summarizes the central ideas of the book The Technological Republic.
Beyond spying on all citizens, it urges the recovery of compulsory military service – a true modern slavery – and the development of weapons with artificial intelligence for states, with technologies for critical military and national security applications for the new era of deterrence built on AI (that) is about to begin.
“The only real answer is rejection: refuse to buy these guarded vehicles… and preserve the used car market as the last refuge of true driving freedom,” concludes Steve Watson.
In short, whatever the outcome, you can be sure that, in the end, freedom and private enterprise will always prevail. Despite the fame they have, the truth is that even intelligence agencies such as the CIA, the Mossad, or the Chinese MSS are inefficient to the point of causing hilarity.
On the other hand, private initiatives are impossible to stop by governments that have been trying, even with the help of “private” sectors – the friends of power – such as banking and financial oligopolies protected by the states.
U.S. authorities have seized about 2,040 pounds of cocaine and almost 5,800 pounds of marijuana in three separate maritime interdictions carried out with international partners.
The most recent interdiction involved the Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) South and Panama’s National Aeronaval Service intercepting a go-fast vessel following a rapid aerial and surface pursuit, JIATF South said in a July 10 post on X. The operation led to the seizure of roughly 2,010 pounds of cocaine.
JIATF South, based in Key West, Florida, is an international alliance that monitors and facilitates the interdiction of drug traffickers in maritime and air domains. Operating across a 42-million-square-mile area, JIATF South involves cooperation from 13 domestic and 20 international partners. The task force seeks to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs and dismantle transnational criminal organizations.
In a second interdiction, JIATF South and authorities from Costa Rica cooperated to intercept a drug smuggling vessel and capture a pick-up boat that was fleeing, according to a July 9 X post. The operation led to the seizure of 3,672 pounds of marijuana, with four suspects arrested.
The third interdiction was a joint operation between JIATF South, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Dominican Republic partners that intercepted a vessel in the Caribbean Sea attempting to transport illicit cargo, the task force said in a July 8 X post.
Authorities seized 2,124 pounds of marijuana and about 30 pounds of cocaine, and detained two smugglers in this incident. A smuggling route operated by a major transnational criminal organization was disrupted.
Drug seizures have risen under the Trump administration.
In a June 18 statement, the CBP said it had seized 56 percent more drugs in the current fiscal year through May than during the same period in fiscal year 2024 under the previous administration.
In the four months between February and May, marijuana seizures averaged 37,033 pounds per month, which is 61 percent higher than the same period in the 2024 fiscal year.
For the month of May, the nationwide seizure of cocaine, marijuana, fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine was 32 percent higher than in May 2024.
“CBP remains on the frontline against drug smuggling, seizing dangerous narcotics before they reach American communities,” the agency said.
Northern Border Drug Trafficking
Last week, a Canadian national was sentenced to 240 months in prison for leading a criminal organization that trafficked hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine valued at up to $17 million from the United States into Canada, according to a July 9 statement from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The issue of drug trafficking at America’s northern border was highlighted by Michael J. Krol, Homeland Security Investigations’ assistant director for domestic operations, during a June 30 House committee hearing.
“Unique to the northern border, the flow of illicit drugs reflects both inbound and outbound dynamics,” Krol said.
A key concern “is the drug flow moving through the United States into Canada. Cartel-owned cocaine and other controlled substances are routed north for domestic consumption and onward shipment to Europe,” he added.
During fiscal year 2024-25, the Canada Border Services Agency reported seizing roughly 7,700 pounds of cocaine, compared to 2,700 pounds seized during fiscal year 2020-21, Krol said.
During a May 12 Senate committee hearing, DEA head Terry Cole and FBI Director Kash Patel said they were working to disrupt new drug production facilities in Canada.
“We see more precursors coming into the Port of Vancouver, coming into Canada,” Cole said.
Patel said that drug traffickers have gotten “smart” with improved security at the U.S. southern border, shifting operations to Canada.
The FBI was working with Canadian authorities to disrupt the production facilities that criminals have moved north, according to Patel.
China Builds Full-Scale Model Of US Destroyer In Remote Desert
Security analysts poring over satellite photos of China have shared a surreal image: There’s a detailed, full-scale replica of a US Navy destroyer in the middle of a remote stretch of Chinese desert. It’s a vivid indication of the seriousness with which the Chinese government takes preparations for a potential war with the United States, perhaps over Taiwan.
Thousands of miles from the nearest ocean, the mockup sits amid the sands of a missile-testing range near Ruoqiang in Xinjiang Province. It’s an exceedingly precise replica of a 510-foot-long US Arleigh Burke-classdestroyer. That type of vessel is a core workhorse of the US Navy, and is involved in air defense, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and attacks on land-targets. A main player in Trump’s Israel-allied war on Iran, it was likely an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that fired the Tomahawk missiles on Feb 28 that devastated a girls’ elementary school in Minab, killing 168 people, mostly schoolgirls. Here’s video of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Michael Murphy, in action:
Footage of the USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) launching five Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iran tonight. pic.twitter.com/nlsAMNhFMF
Adding to the mockup’s realism, analysts told CNN that that it’s bristling with antennas that are used to reproduce the destroyer’s radar signature. The same area of China is home to several flat, 2-D mockup of other US ships, portraying the outlines of destroyers and aircraft carriers as seen from above. Those mockups are mounted on tracks so they glide along the desert sea at the same speeds real US warships would use.
As with any well-resourced military, mockups have long been a part of Chinese readiness training, to include building fake airstrips, highway interchanges and even an Eiffel Tower in their desert. The country has also built a 3D mockup of central Taipei, to include Taiwan’s presidential office. However, according to open source intelligence analyst Joseph Wen of the Taiwan Inspiration Association, this is the first known instance in which China has built a detailed, 3-D replica of a warship. Wen is credited with being the first to discover the new mockup several weeks ago, while it was still being built. “The message that they are sending is China is always preparing for war,” Wen told CNN.
…just like the United States, which may see its already-enormous military budget grow 50% from about $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion in FY 2027 — if Congress makes Trump’s fever-dreams a reality.
War Returns: Pentagon Initiates 3rd Consecutive Night Of Iran Strikes As IRGC Targets More Vessels In Hormuz
Summary
Trump warns will hit Iran ‘hard’ tonight or tomorrow; Pentagon confirms 3rd night of strikes has begun
Reports of Houthi missiles launched on Saudi Arabia: oil extends gains near month-highs.
Trump says US blockade of Iran ports ‘reinstated’: states that US to be reimbursed at rate of 20% of cargo shipped for vessels wishing to transit. CENTCOM affirms with closure message.
Strikes escalated over weekend: US hit over 140 Iranian military targets; Iran attacks US-linked facilities across the Gulf.
Shipping tensions boil: Iran claims the strait is closed, but commercial vessels continue transiting under US protection.
Oil prices climb: on rising risk to global shipping & energy markets, as diplomacy clearly unraveling.
In case anyone had doubts that the region has witnessed a return to full-scale US-Iran war, CENTCOM has announced that it has begun launching the third consecutive night of strikes on Iran in the overnight hours (local):
This as President Trump has claimed Monday that the US had a “deal with [Iran] two days ago” but that Tehran wanted “to negotiate it further”. However when asked by a reporter whether he thinks a negotiated settlement is no longer possible Trump responded: “I never reached that conclusion.”
He explained his beleif that the “most effective” way to put pressure on Iran is va a combination of a blockade and “hitting them”. Earlier he and the Pentagon announced that a full blockade of Iranian ports is back on.
The US is going to hit Iran hard on Monday night and Tuesday, Trump has previewed in remarks to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
When asked about the MoU, Trump said it was a “test” for Iran, which “they did not honor”. The remarks came just as reports emerged of more IRGC attacks on vessels seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
OIL PRICES EXTEND GAINS IN POST SETTLEMENT TRADE, RISES 10%
There’s a rich irony in terms of the day this will be implemented, an anniversary of sorts:
The US has said it will reimpose its naval blockade of Iran on Tuesday, on what would have been the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The landmark nuclear was finalised in Vienna on July 14, 2015 after being agreed by Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
The negative return to full war headlines have come one after another on Monday
IRAN’S TASNIM SAYS SEVERAL ‘VIOLATING’ VESSELS WERE TARGETED IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
TRUMP SAYS US WILL HIT IRAN ‘HARD’ TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
TRUMP: IRAN MOU WAS BUILT TO TEST
TRUMP NOTIFIES CONGRESS OF NEW WAR AGAINST IRAN: POLITICO
TRUMP ON IRAN: WE HAD A DEAL YESTERDAY, THEY BREAK DEALS
Iranian state media cites the army stating that it targeted US military facilities and equipment in Kuwait with drones, while it also targeted a ‘hostile’ US vessel with cruise missiles
Oil Surges To Month-Highs on Yemen Missile Attack on Saudi Arabia
Reports are emerging out of Saudi Arabia of inbound ballistic missile attacks on its air bases and/or an international airport. With Houthi potential involvement unfolding, there are fears that this war is now rapidly expanding. Oil is reacting to what is both the complete unraveling of the MoU and new signs of the Houthis joining the war on Iran’s side:
US blockade encompasses entirety of Iranian coastline: RTRS
Saudi defenses dealing with Houthi missile attack: Alekhbariya
Tasnim reports of an attack on Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia
Yemeni war media identifies the coordinates of important airports and ports in Saudi Arabia that will likely be targeted by Houthi attacks, reports Tasnim
Explosions heard on Iran’s Larak Island in Hormuz Strait: Tasnim
Several violating ships were targeted in the Strait of Hormuz, reports Tasnim
At the Commander in Chief’s direction, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on July 14 at 4 p.m. ET.
CENTCOM forces will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas. The U.S. military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.
The resumption of the U.S. blockade against Iran follows the initial implementation from April 13 to June 18. CENTCOM forces redirected more than 140 compliant vessels, disabled nine non-compliant ships, and allowed over 50 commercial vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass through the blockade during the two-month period.
All mariners are advised to monitor Notice to Mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches.
Iran Foreign Minister response:
POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service.
Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER.
Trump: Blockade Reinstated, US To Be ‘Reimbursed’ on 20% of Cargo
A stunning new Trump statement via Truth Social, proposing that the United States will collect an astounding rate of 20% of cargo shipped for vessels wishing to transit the Strait of Hormuz. He has declared the US military is “reinstating the Iranian blockade” due to the IRGC continuing to try and enforce Iran’s own protocol. This could of course amount to a US ‘fee’ of tens of millions of dollars for each vessel, significantly more than what Iran was seeking to impose. Iran’s retaliation continues? New reports of major incident in Saudi Arabia:
Oil extends gains, rise 7% to session highs:
Oil jumps this morning on the bellow succession of headlines…
IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SPOKESPERSON: WE CONTINUE TO ASSERT OUR AUTHORITY AND CONTROL OVER THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
TRUMP: REINSTATING THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE
TRUMP: US WILL BE REIMBURSED 20% ON CARGO FROM HORMUZ
Trump: US to Take Over Strait & Get Paid For It
President Trump in surprising commentary issued to “Fox & Friends” has said the United States will probably take over the Strait of Hormuz and should be reimbursed for controlling it. His words have raised eyebrows given Washington’s stance has been that no one can collect tolls for transit through the vital international waterway. He said once the US gains control of it, following a weekend bombing campaign on Iranian coastal sites, “we’ll probably run it” and “we should be reimbursed for that.”
“We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it. We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that,” he says in the Fox phone interview.
Again, US officials have throughout Operation Epic Fury voiced that it is an illegal outrage for Iran to suggest it would charge fees, but now…
Trump: “We’re gonna keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it. We’ll become the guardian of the strait. We should be reimbursed for that. When we do that, we’re gonna be reimbursed. We’re gonna get paid.” pic.twitter.com/O4ckjB2FkK
Below is a fuller transcript of the Monday morning exchange:
Fox: It looks like they’re back to trying to take control of the Strait, what’s your response?
Trump: Well, we’re taking over the straight. They have nothing, they’ve got nothing. So…. something that nobody knows, yesterday they had an eleven hour meeting, everything’s eleven hours with these guys you know you can’t settle a one sentence in, one hour, in one minute… It should be one minute—But we had a deal, but nobody knows, we had a deal, it was a done deal, but then they broke it, they always break it. And so we’re just going to hit them very hard. And we’re gonna keep the uh Strait, and we’ll probably run it, we’ll become the guardian of the Strait, maybe we’ll call it “The guardian angel of the Strait”. And we should reimbursed for that, when we do that we’re gonna be reimbursed because the other nations are very wealthy, they’re on our side. We guarded the Strait for 50 years, more, and, we never got paid for it. They made all the money and the US was just, you know, not, it’s just amazing. We guarded it for nothing.
The Iranians have been quick to respond, with its top military command asserting that Iran will not allow the US to intervene in the management of the strait. State-run IRNA also states:
Iran says we will not be forced to pay the ‘enemy’ for ship passage.
So this sets up the warring sides for further clashes in the Persian Gulf region, as absolutist demands continued to be adhered to, and red lines continue to be tested and blown past. Below is more from the Iranian Foreign Ministry articulating enforcement of its passage protocol:
Iran’s FM Spox. Esmail Baghaei:
The United States bears direct responsibility for the recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Americans reneged from day one; they are trying to bypass the secure route coordinated with Iran. pic.twitter.com/zlkvM6EkUS
The US and Iran exchanged another round of strikes overnight, extending a weeklong surge in fighting and casting dark clouds of uncertainty over whether the Strait of Hormuz remains open to commercial shipping.
US Central Command revealed US forces unleashed air-delivered munitions on dozens of Iranian air-defense systems, coastal radar systems, missile launch sites, and drone capabilities, bringing the weekend total to about 140 targets. This move aimed to degrade the IRGC’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Hormuz chokepoint, which it has done over the past week.
Iran responded with attacks on US-linked facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Oman, while also claiming it intercepted two vessels using what it called an “illegal route” through Hormuz.
IRGC Fires Warning Shots
Early Monday, Iranian state TV reported that IRGC forces fired “warning shots” at multiple ships attempting to transit the Hormuz chokepoint.
“This morning, two ships that were attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz illegally were targeted and stopped by warning shots fired by the navy of the Revolutionary Guards,” said a correspondent on state TV.
Tehran has declared the strait closed until further notice, but the US military, President Trump, and maritime monitors say the southern route remains passable.
Bloomberg data shows the LNG tanker Al Hamra safely transited the Hormuz chokepoint over the weekend and is now full steam ahead in the Gulf of Oman. Axios noted earlier that 20 commercial ships managed to transit the Hormuz chokepoint in coordination with the US military.
Bloomberg data only tracks ships with transponders on.
Crude Climbs as War Back on Menu
Brent crude futures traded up 3.5% to the midpoint of $78 a barrel, while WTI futures are up around 3.4% to $73.85 amid increasingly heated tit-for-tat attacks.
Here is Deutsche Bank equity research analyst Chris Robertson’s summary of developments last week and through the weekend:
Last week, Iran declared that the Strait of Hormuz is closed until further notice. Iran attacked a commercial container ship attempting to transit the region, causing a fire aboard the vessel.
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JIMC) said on Sunday that the southern Omani route remains available, but that the threat level is rated as “severe”.
Regardless of any claims around the Strait being closed or open, what matters is that commercial ship owners are likely not willing to risk transit in an active war zone, putting ships and crews at risk of attack.
We reiterate our initial concerns that despite major destruction of traditional Iranian naval vessels and assets, the ongoing threat that shipowners face is asymmetric warfare technologies such as drones and missiles. These types of threats are much harder to predict or plan for, thereby maximizing uncertainty related to mitigating voyage risks.
We expect transit activity will slow, especially as it relates to vessels planning to enter the Gulf through the Strait which, unlike exiting activity, is the real sign that conditions are normalizing. We believe that an ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz will lead to downward pressure on shortterm tanker rates as ships remain in other regions, thereby increasing effective supply of those ships.
Diplomacy Unravels
As of Monday morning, it is clear that US-Iran diplomacy is unraveling, while US forces are systematically degrading the IRGC’s ability to close the maritime chokepoint. Commercial ships continue to transit the waterway, undermining Tehran’s claim that the critical waterway is effectively shut.
Tehran must also recognize the longer-term strategic risk: every disruption accelerates global investment in pipelines, export terminals, and other infrastructure designed to bypass Hormuz. Once those alternatives are operational (Read Here), Tehran’s greatest source of geopolitical leverage will evaporate. Then what?
* * *
Overnight/Weekend Developments
US President Trump threatened that the US military would “completely decimate and destroy all areas” of Iran if its leaders attempted or carried out an assassination on him.
US forces said they struck 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday and were also reported to have carried out another round of strikes on Sunday, while Iran targeted at least five US allies across the Middle East in drone and missile assaults early on Sunday, as well as announced that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed until further notice. However, the Joint Maritime Information Centre said the path along the Omani coastline is still available for transit, while it was separately reported that a Chinese tanker transited through Hormuz via an Iran-designated route.
US official said around 20 commercial vessels transited through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the US military over the last 24 hours, in addition to several vessels without US coordination, according to Axios.
US military announced on Sunday evening that it began a new wave of strikes against Iran to continue degrading its ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, while Iranian TV reported explosions in Qeshm, Jask, Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
US Central Command denied a claim by Iran that three US service members were killed in Kuwait, while it stated that there have been no reports of US casualties in the region, with all personnel accounted for and safe. CENTCOM later commented that it completed a new wave of offensive strikes on Iran, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Kuwait’s military said three border posts were attacked and that a drilling platform owned by the Kuwait Oil Company was struck in a drone attack, while it was separately reported that US intelligence sources noted observations that Iran was preparing to carry out a massive attack on the UAE and Kuwait.
Iran said it caused heavy damage to Jordan’s Prince Hassan Airbase, as well as claimed it targeted the Al-Udeid Airbase in Qatar and a US Navy logistics base in Dukm, Oman. Furthermore, Iran also targeted Kuwait and the US base in Bahrain.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a written statement, vowing to avenge the death of his father and said that it was the demand of the nation.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned US attacks on Iranian infrastructure, which it said were a violation of the ceasefire deal and the UN Charter, while it warned Gulf states over the use of territory for US attacks.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi said no action against Iran should go unanswered and called for a pre-set response to any attempt against Iran, its military, Supreme Leader and officials.
Iranian lawmaker and member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Kashkavi, said Iran prefers to manage the Strait of Hormuz through cooperation with regional states, particularly Oman, and stated that the clear official position is that future management of the Strait will be arranged by Iran.
Iran denied social media reports that claimed the Bushehr nuclear power plant had been attacked, while its nuclear agency said all units continue to operate normally and that the plant is in a safe and stable condition.
Iraq’s PM is to visit Washington on Monday, while oil and gas deals are expected to be announced, although the Islamic Resistance in Iraq warned the government against US economic deals and demanded a US troop withdrawal.
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that Yemen would continue its support of Iran in the face of ongoing US and Israeli aggression.
Israeli artillery conducted further shelling in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Explosions were heard around Iran’s Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island on Monday afternoon, Mehr News reported, while there is also the possibility of clashes in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Reported fire at Kharg Island appears to be a result of routine flaring, according to Nour News.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the US violated all clauses of the MoU in less than a month and stated that Iran will not execute commitments in the MoU as long as the US is not fulfilling its commitments. He added that the MoU is in “crisis” phase. Muscat talks with Oman were solely focused on the Strait of Hormuz. On the recent strikes, none of the US bases in any country in the region have been removed from the target list and that the defensive strikes of Iran are solely against the bases, facilities and positions used by the US to attack Iran, including their logistical and support facilities. In terms of further talks, mediators are still continuing their efforts to mediate between Iran and the US in recent days and Iran is in contact with mediators.
Iran’s IRGC said only way to open the Strait of Hormuz is to end US military interventions and respect the sovereignty of the countries bordering it.
There is no clear timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from the experimental areas in southern Lebanon amid a policy of consolidation and non-compliance with the framework agreement, Al Araby reported citing sources.
When we picture intellectual property theft, we picture a break-in. A hacker slips past the firewall, copies the source code, and disappears. So, when an American AI company tells Congress that China just pulled off the largest extraction campaign it’s ever recorded, the natural assumption is that someone cracked the vault.
Nobody broke in. And that’s exactly what makes this threat so difficult for Washington to address.
Last week, Anthropic told the Senate Banking Committee that operators affiliated with the Chinese conglomerate Alibaba ran roughly 28.8 million queries with its Claude models through nearly 25,000 fraudulent accounts between April and June. According to the company, the goal was not to steal the model. It was to harvest its answers, then use those answers to train a competing Chinese system at a fraction of the cost.
This technique is called distillation, and not all of it is sinister. Training a smaller model on the outputs of a larger one is a routine and legitimate practice when a company does it with its own systems. What Anthropic alleges is something else: unauthorized extraction from a competitor’s proprietary service, carried out at industrial scale through fake accounts that violated its terms of use. The line between ordinary engineering and a national-security problem runs right through that word “unauthorized.”
The unsettling part is how ordinary the attack looks from the outside. The operators signed up, gained access, and asked questions, millions of them, aimed at the model’s most valuable skills: writing software and reasoning through complex tasks step by step. The model did precisely what it was built to do. No alarm tripped, because from the system’s perspective, nothing went wrong. A determined competitor simply walked through the front door, at enormous scale, to approximate years of American research by learning from the model’s outputs.
That is a genuinely new kind of problem, and it scrambles the usual playbook.
The instinct in Washington has been to treat Chinese AI gains as a hardware story. Keep advanced chips out of Beijing’s hands, the thinking goes, and you slow its progress. That instinct isn’t wrong. Compute is a real chokepoint… China keeps trying to smuggle chips and route around the controls, and tightening those rules is sound policy.
But chip controls were designed to stop someone from building a powerful model. They do nothing to stop someone from quietly copying the behavior of a model that already exists.
You can wall off the foundry and leave the storefront wide open. That is the gap distillation walks through, and it is why a hardware-only strategy, however necessary, cannot be the whole answer.
The stakes are not only strategic. Every successful extraction campaign compresses years of research and billions of dollars of private investment into millions of automated queries, undermining the incentives that made American frontier AI leadership possible in the first place. This is what intellectual property theft looks like in the age of AI: not stolen code, but a copied teacher. Alibaba is simply the first vivid example, and it won’t be the last.
The encouraging news is that the government has already named the problem. In April, the White House science office issued a memo warning that foreign entities, mostly based in China, are running “industrial-scale campaigns to distill U.S. frontier AI systems,” and it committed the administration to better information sharing and defensive coordination with industry. The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a bill that would track these extraction attempts and authorize sanctions against the companies behind them. And in response to the Alibaba disclosure, Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) are pushing an amendment to this year’s defense bill directing the Commerce Department to penalize Chinese firms caught doing it.
That bipartisan momentum is the right reflex. To work, the response must match the attack, and that means treating model extraction like any other strategic economic attack rather than a routine business dispute.
Two priorities follow. First, detection is a shared problem, yet companies fight it alone. The fake accounts and evasion patterns show up across multiple American labs, but legal uncertainty discourages competitors from comparing notes. Congress can give them clear permission to share threat signals with one another and with the government, the way banks already share intelligence on fraud. Second, deterrence must reach the storefront, not just the foundry. If a Chinese lab can lose access to American chips for smuggling them, it should face comparable consequences for systematically abusing American AI services to copy them.
America has spent years debating how to keep advanced AI out of China’s hands. The harder question may be how to keep China’s AI companies from quietly learning everything they can from the models we place online for the world to use. Last week’s disclosure put a number on it: 28.8 million questions, asked through the front door. Washington has finally started looking at the right entry point. Now it needs to figure out how to lock it.
Joseph Hoefer is a principal and chief AI officer at Monument Advocacy, where he leads the firm’s AI policy practice.
Buying a car is only the beginning. Every year afterward, drivers face a steady stream of expenses—from insurance and fuel to repairs and taxes—that can add up to thousands of dollars.
Using data from LendingTree, Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld created this map comparing average annual car ownership costs across every U.S. state and Washington D.C., excluding car payments, revealing where those ongoing expenses place the biggest burden on drivers.
The Annual Car Ownership Costs by State
Here’s how annual ownership costs compare across the country.
Rank
State or District
Average Annual Cost of Car Ownership
2025
1
Nevada
$6,119
2
Florida
$5,682
3
Louisiana
$5,663
4
Michigan
$5,350
5
Colorado
$5,151
6
Alabama
$5,099
7
Arizona
$5,060
8
Oklahoma
$5,021
9
Georgia
$5,014
10
Utah
$4,977
11
Arkansas
$4,947
12
California
$4,900
13
Kentucky
$4,862
14
Wyoming
$4,859
15
New Mexico
$4,855
16
Missouri
$4,819
17
Mississippi
$4,792
18
Indiana
$4,787
19
Rhode Island
$4,711
20
Texas
$4,636
21
Montana
$4,548
22
Kansas
$4,542
23
North Dakota
$4,540
24
Delaware
$4,538
25
Tennessee
$4,532
26
Illinois
$4,521
27
South Dakota
$4,493
28
Minnesota
$4,435
29
Connecticut
$4,419
30
New Jersey
$4,413
31
Oregon
$4,340
32
Nebraska
$4,307
33
Washington
$4,306
34
Maryland
$4,302
35
New York
$4,253
36
Pennsylvania
$4,181
37
South Carolina
$4,176
38
North Carolina
$4,157
39
Iowa
$4,146
40
Hawaii
$4,114
41
West Virginia
$4,102
42
Virginia
$4,061
43
Wisconsin
$3,963
44
District of Columbia
$3,925
45
Massachusetts
$3,834
46
Vermont
$3,829
47
Idaho
$3,781
48
Alaska
$3,682
49
Ohio
$3,544
50
Maine
$3,543
51
New Hampshire
$3,030
—
🇺🇸 U.S. Average
$4,507
Costs do not include car payments. Sales taxes combine state and local taxes, annualized over 6.5 years based on an average used car price of $27,177.
Annual ownership costs range from roughly $3,000 in New Hampshire to more than $6,100 in Nevada, meaning two drivers with the same vehicle could face a difference of more than $3,000 every year based solely on where they live.
Seven of the 15 most expensive states are in the South, largely because of elevated insurance premiums. Florida and Louisiana rank near the top for insurance costs, while California stands out for high fuel prices and repair expenses rather than insurance alone.
Why Some States Cost Thousands More Than Others
The price of a vehicle may be similar nationwide, but the cost of keeping it on the road can change significantly by state.
Insurance is often the biggest source of variation, ranging from over $3,400 annually in Nevada to around $1,200 in Maine. Premiums reflect everything from accident frequency and vehicle theft to repair costs, weather-related claims, and state insurance regulations. In 13 states, insurance alone accounts for at least half of total ownership costs.
Fuel prices, registration fees, and sales taxes add another layer. Drivers in states with longer average commutes or higher gasoline prices typically spend more each year, while repair costs can also differ depending on labor rates and vehicle demand.
Driving Is One of America’s Biggest Household Expenses
Transportation is one of the largest household expenses after housing, making recurring vehicle costs an important part of overall affordability. While consumers often focus on a car’s purchase price or monthly payment, insurance, fuel, repairs, and taxes can add thousands of dollars each year, and those costs depend heavily on where they live.
That burden is especially significant in communities where driving is a necessity rather than a choice. Beyond commuting, vehicles are essential for work, school, childcare, and everyday errands, making recurring ownership costs difficult to avoid.
As insurance premiums, repair bills, and maintenance costs continue to rise, the cost of keeping a car on the road remains a core part of the broader cost-of-living conversation alongside housing, healthcare, and utilities.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on America’s slowest depreciating cars.
Appeals Court Revives Tylenol Autism Lawsuits Against Kenvue
A federal appeals court has breathed new life into litigation accusing Kenvue of failing to disclose alleged risks tied to taking Tylenol during pregnancy, reversing an earlier ruling that had effectively stopped hundreds of cases, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
On Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the trial judge went too far in throwing out testimony from three expert witnesses. The panel said the experts relied on recognized scientific approaches and that disagreements over how to interpret the available research should be weighed through the legal process rather than dismissed outright. The lawsuits will now return to the lower court.
The decision overturns a 2023 ruling that prevented roughly 500 claims from moving forward against Kenvue, the consumer health business that was spun off from Johnson & Johnson. Bloomberg Intelligence has previously estimated that the company could ultimately face thousands of similar lawsuits, creating the potential for billions of dollars in legal exposure.
Bloomberg notes that attorneys representing the plaintiffs said the appeals court recognized that their experts relied on legitimate scientific evidence. Kenvue countered that the ruling was procedural, not a finding that Tylenol causes autism or ADHD. The company continues to argue that the best available independent research has not established a causal relationship between prenatal acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Recall back in September we noted when President Donald Trump advised pregnant women to avoid Tylenol, bringing renewed public attention to a debate that has divided researchers.Even so, many medical experts and large reviews of existing studies continue to say the evidence does not demonstrate that acetaminophen use during pregnancy causes autism, ADHD, or similar developmental conditions.
“With Tylenol, don’t take it, don’t take it,” Trump said last year, adding that the FDA would issue a notice to physicians over the risk of acetaminophen during pregnancy, and begin the process to make a safety label change. “I think we’ve found an answer to autism.”
In October, we noted that in a Feb. 8, 2018, email obtained by The Epoch Times, Rachel Weinstein, director of epidemiology at Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen, wrote, “The weight of evidence is starting to feel heavy to me.”
Weinstein was emailing Jesse Berlin, Johnson & Johnson’s global head of epidemiology, about a review that concluded that nine studies suggested that use of acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—by pregnant women was linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental issues in the women’s children.
The legal battle is unfolding while Kimberly-Clark works to complete its planned $40 billion purchase of Kenvue. The company has said it reviewed the potential litigation risks before agreeing to the acquisition.
The graph below paints a very interesting picture of US energy efficiency and a key structural economic change in this country.
For roughly 25 years after WWII, the US economy’s crude oil consumption nearly tripled. Feeding the growth were a booming post-war economy and strong population growth.
To put consumption in a different context, the graph shows consumption as a ratio to a dollar of real GDP, on a per capita basis.
It shows that consumption per dollar of GDP declined rapidly starting in the mid-1970s, suggesting an increase in US energy efficiency.
The US per capita energy efficiency is less pronounced but noticeable.
In addition to productivity gains and urbanization, there are a few reasons for the gains in efficiency.
The 1973 Arab oil embargo was a shock to the economy. During this time, a quadrupling of gas prices and long gas lines forced policymakers and consumers to treat oil as a strategic vulnerability rather than a cheap given.
Washington enacted numerous measures in response to persistently high oil prices in the 1970s. For instance, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 mandated US energy efficiency standards for appliances and introduced fuel-economy standards. Legislators also encouraged a shift from oil and natural gas to coal for power generation. Utilities largely stopped building oil-fired plants.
Structural change was equally important. The economy shifted from heavy manufacturing to services and technology, sectors that require far less energy per dollar of output.
Ironically, AI data centers are now driving a renewed focus on efficiency, this time with natural gas and renewables.
Credit Card Chargebacks Surge As E-Commerce & Cashless Society Gets Messy For Consumers
US consumers are disputing card purchases at a record pace, as online fraud, confusing billing practices, and sneaky subscription charges drive a surge in chargebacks.
Bloomberg cites new data from research firm Juniper Research on consumers’ aggressive use of chargebacks. Last year alone, US consumers filed 158 million transaction disputes, up 29% from 2021 and outpacing overall growth in card spending. Global disputes jumped 46% over the same period.
The increase may reflect not only more legitimate fraud but also subscription traps, unfamiliar merchant names, poor service, and “friendly fraud,” in which shoppers mistakenly or knowingly challenge legitimate purchases.
The report continued:
Some of this growth in reported fraud is indeed a reflection of growth in real fraud. More people are getting scammed, especially online.
But according to Michael Greenwood, a senior research analyst at Juniper who focuses on digital payments, that’s not the main source of dispute rates. Instead he points to two other phenomena responsible for the ballooning number of chargebacks: growing confusion among consumers over how the transactions on their monthly statements correspond to their actual purchases, as well as an increasing willingness, especially among younger shoppers, to engage in a little bit of fraud of their own.
Rising chargebacks may also signal growing consumer stress, as online fraud and distrust of merchants increase. This appears to be one of the drawbacks of going cashless for some people in the era of e-commerce. Some shoppers are struggling with subscription traps, unclear billing, and deteriorating service, while a growing share are also using disputes to reverse legitimate purchases.
The spike in chargebacks is also hurting retailers, resulting in higher fraud losses and processing costs.
Business revolt?
Meanwhile, consumers are carrying near-record credit card balances as inflation remains elevated. The average credit card interest rate is hovering near a record high of 22%.
So one drawback of e-commerce and an increasingly cashless economy is the rise in chargebacks. Digital transactions create more opportunities for fraud, billing confusion, and subscription disputes.
Mick Jagger is pushing back against the trend of rock stars turning stages into campaign rallies, offering a refreshing contrast to Bruce Springsteen’s repeated anti-Trump outbursts.
In a recent New York Times podcast interview, Jagger made his position crystal clear. While contrasting his approach with Springsteen’s, he stated: “My job in the live music world is for those people that come to have the best time … And you don’t want to lecture them.”
Mick Jagger Says It’s Not His Job to Lecture Rolling Stones’ Fans on Politics
NYT: “Bruce Springsteen clearly sees his job as engaging in a meaningful back and forth.”
MICK JAGGER: “My job in the live music world is for those people that come to have the best time … And you… pic.twitter.com/PmNaTgLjs7
This comes as Springsteen has made a habit of injecting leftist political commentary into his shows, often targeting President Trump and his administration.
From calling Trump “treasonous and corrupt” during his European tour to labeling America itself a “reckless, unpredictable, predatory, untrustworthy, rogue nation” in a DC concert, the so called Boss has turned performances into platforms for activism.
Grammy-winning musician Bruce Springsteen began his European tour by calling President Donald Trump a “treasonous and corrupt” leader.
Springsteen urged the crowd to rise up, speak out against authoritarianism, and “let freedom ring.”
Leftist activist Bruce Springsteen went on an unhinged anti-Trump rant during his recent DC concert, calling America a “reckless, unpredictable, predatory, untrustworthy, rogue nation.” pic.twitter.com/wkolcjuh5S
Springsteen has relied on a teleprompter for his anti-Trump and anti-billionaire rants, scripting attacks on the “richest men in America” and claims about a president who “cannot handle the truth.”
Billionaire Bruce Springsteen uses a teleprompter to read a script bashing Trump and billionaires.
“The richest men in America have abandoned the world’s poorest children to death and disease…We have a President who cannot handle the truth.” pic.twitter.com/VJPm443zst
His latest efforts include an angry ‘look at my serious playing face’ anti-ICE music video titled “Streets Of Minneapolis,” railing against the Trump administration.
JUST IN: Singer Bruce Springsteen releases angry, highly political new anti-ICE music video titled “Streets Of Minneapolis,” which was uploaded to YouTube.
Springsteen raged against the Trump administration and called some out by name in the song.
Fans and commentators have taken notice of Jagger’s stance, with many applauding the decision to prioritize the audience’s enjoyment over boring lefty sermons.
Jagger’s been around the block enough times to know how that sort of thing plays out. He’s witnessed first hand what happens when musicians lose themselves in political messaging. Good on him for not stepping in it.
Too bad more musicians and actors don’t heed Jagger’s advice. I have zero interest in supporting any entertainment personality who thinks they have some moral high ground obligation to tell me who I can support politically. It’s none of their GD business.
Mick knows. I was at a private event where U2 played and the entire show they used the monitors and interstitial comments to tell me to give all my money to Democrats and eradicate the evil that is Trump. Fuck them. pic.twitter.com/5WEhW5pcpU
Jagger’s comments strike a chord in an era where many entertainers seem more focused on pushing ideology than delivering the escapist joy fans pay for.
While Springsteen sees his role as political engagement, Jagger understands that most concertgoers want to rock out, not endure lectures – especially from multimillionaire performers far removed from everyday struggles.
This divide highlights a broader fatigue with celebrities who lecture from their bubbles while ignoring their own inconsistencies. America First means putting fans and freedom first, not turning every stage into a partisan soapbox. Jagger gets it. More should follow.
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