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‘Birthright Senatorship’? – Graham’s Sister Announces Bid For Full Term As Mace Opts Out

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‘Birthright Senatorship’? – Graham’s Sister Announces Bid For Full Term As Mace Opts Out

Three days after President Trump publicly urged her to run, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday afternoon announced that — unsatisfied with serving as an obviously unqualified interim senator through January — she will run for the full six-year-term that starts in January. The development seemed to brush another potential candidate off the plate, but another one joined the field on Monday. Possibly seeing Trump’s endorsement as too ridiculous to be fully intimidating, others may join a field that officially has five candidates.  

Graham’s sister made the announcement on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Monday night, but a clip of her declaring that she’d run was posted earlier that afternoon, perhaps with the intent to discourage other candidates from filing when the window officially opens today; it closes on Tuesday the 28th: 

“I’ve made a decision. I’m in… I can’t see it any other way. I just don’t. I’ve thought, and I’ve prayed, and he’s worked so hard for so long. I just, I can’t just let that die. I’ve got to step in and carry on his legacy. I know he cared about the people of South Carolina so deeply. He worked so hard for them, and I feel like I can do that, too.”

To be clear, Lindsey Graham’s “legacy” centers on relentless advocacy for bloody, expensive and often counterproductive regime-change interventions around the globe, to include collaborating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to persuade Trump to launch a war on Iran on false premises, and fostering the ouster of Ukraine’s democratically-elected president before then leading the charge to pour billions of dollars of weapons into an economy-damaging proxy war against Russia. 

The start of the new week also brought us a rebranding of Graham’s sister. When South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to be a placeholder for the remainder of her brother’s term that ends in January — and in the days since — she was universally referred to as Darline Nordone or Darline Graham Nordone. With her announcement, she’s suddenly “Darline Graham,” even though she remains married to Larry Nordone, about whom very little is publicly known.

The Darline Graham relabeling is obviously meant to capitalize on name recognition, which, aside from the Trump endorsement, is her only political asset. She has never held an elected office. She’s commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, and previously held a communications role in the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department.  Ever the Trump today, Hannity tried using Monday’s softball interview to polish Darline Graham’s thin resume. “You’ve had your own life and success,” he said. “You have been the commissioner of South Carolina’s commission for the blind. You’ve held this position since 2019. It’s a 130 person agency, $90 million budget you ran, 10 offices across South Carolina … you’ve got a lot of experience.”  

Darline Graham, who seemingly buys her ladies’ US-flag brooches at the same place as Mark Levin, called herself Darline Nordone up until Monday

At least one potential opponent seemed to find Trump’s endorsement sufficiently threatening: Rep. Nancy Mace, who’s poised to hand over her House seat in January after having foregone reelection for a failed bid for governor, had teased at a run on social media within hours of Lindsey Graham’s death. On Monday, however, Mace announced she will not enter the GOP special primary election that will take place on Aug. 11, with a potential run-off of the top two finishers on Aug 25. “I’m not running for the U.S. Senate, not because I’m backing down from a fight, but because the one I’m already in matters right now,” she said, referring to her work on laws to protect women and girls who are victims of sexual misconduct. 

Undaunted, Congressman Russell Fry jumped into the race on Monday. Fry was reportedly hand-picked by Trump to unseat Republican Tom Rice in 2022, as payback for Rice’s vote to impeach Trump over the Jan 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot. He won and is considered close to the Trump team. “There is no other way to put it: Lindsey Graham was one of a kind. There is no replacing him. But I believe the best way to honor his legacy is to fight alongside the President just as steadfastly as he did,” Fry said in a statement. Hedging his bets, Fry will also continue pursuing reelection to the House.   

Nordone Graham and Fry join a field that includes businessman Mark Lynch, who was trounced by Lindsey Graham in the June GOP primary; Duke Buckner, a lawyer who has previously run for the state’s heavily-Democratic 6th Congressional District seat; and US Rep. Ralph Norman. At 73 years old, Norman’s age might be a liability, but he’s picked up endorsements from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Turning Point Action and Nancy Mace. 

The winner will go up against Democrat pediatrician Annie Andrews, who previously failed to unseat Mace, and who has founded a PAC focusing on issues like climate change, gun control and voting rights. Before Lindsey Graham suddenly died on July 11 from an aortic dissection, the Cook Political Report rated the South Carolina seat “Solid R.” That’s unlikely to change no matter who wins the Aug 11 GOP primary.

The big question is whether Trump’s endorsement and outside spending in a very short race can overcome Darline Graham’s lack of credentials — and perhaps some reluctance among South Carolina Republicans to see their Senate seat treated like inheritable property. So far there’s no indication there will be a debate among the candidates. That’s a shame for South Carolina voters, but Darline Graham must be relieved that she won’t have to face at least four other candidates and a moderator grilling her on a variety of national and international issues she likely knows very little about and has even less experience articulating. 

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 23:00

Data Centers Were Responsible For 46% Of PJM’s Last Four Capacity Auction Costs

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Data Centers Were Responsible For 46% Of PJM’s Last Four Capacity Auction Costs

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

Data centers are responsible for $6.3 billion, or 38%, of the $16.4 billion in charges from the PJM Interconnection’s just-held capacity auction, Joseph Bowring, president of Monitoring Analytics, said in an email to Utility Dive. Monitoring Analytics is the grid operator’s independent market monitor.

In PJM’s last four base capacity auctions, data center-driven capacity charges totaled $29.4 billion — 46% of the $63.6 billion in total capacity charges in that period, Bowring said. Monitoring Analytics plans to publish its analysis of the most recent auction in a few weeks, he said.

PJM isn’t fully grappling with the ramifications of data center development, according to Bowring. “PJM is continuing to act like it’s business as usual,” he said in an interview on Friday. “You have to open your eyes and recognize that it is really a paradigm shift, and failing to do that imposes costs on other customers.”

Ratepayers in PJM are not only paying capacity charges for existing and potential data centers, they are paying for higher energy and transmission costs data centers have caused, according to Bowring.

PJM’s capacity auctions and the price of electricity has become a major political issue in the grid operator’s footprint, which includes 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states and the District of Columbia. In September, governors from PJM states formed a collaborative to advocate for their interests with the grid operator.

On March 4, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other data center companies pledged at the White House that they would protect consumers from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements.

However, meeting that pledge is impossible in PJM under its current rules, according to Bowring.

“There’s only one way to do what hyperscalers agree is the right thing to do, and that is to run a separate auction,” Bowring said. “That’s good for the hyperscalers … because it allows them to get capacity and be served reliably, and it’s good for other customers because it separates out the impact from the data center.”

First, data centers and other large loads should contract for their own generation, according to a proposal the market monitor made last month as part of PJM’s fast-track stakeholder process for a backstop reliability auction. For those that can’t bring their own generation, PJM should hold separate auctions to procure their capacity supplies under 15-year contracts, Bowring said.

PJM buys capacity ahead of time — normally three years in advance — based on its demand forecast. However, it is unclear exactly how much data center load will materialize, adding uncertainty to the forecast.

While PJM has tried to make its data center forecasts more accurate, there is growing opposition to data centers across the United States, with some major projects getting canceled, Morningstar DBRS said in a report released Monday.

“As states consider new taxes, restrictions, and moratoriums on data center growth, escalating stakeholder opposition could become a material credit factor, potentially weakening data center project credit quality by reducing development visibility, increasing regulatory risk, and challenging assumptions around the pace and certainty of future AI-driven capacity expansion,” the credit ratings agency said.

Under Monitoring Analytics’ auction proposal, removing data centers — and the uncertainty around their future loads — from the base capacity auction ensures ratepayers won’t pay for unneeded capacity.

PJM’s board is developing a backstop auction proposal for data centers that it aims to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this month so the auction can take place in September.

Under a plan that received the most support in the stakeholder process, utilities and other load-serving entities, and potentially data centers themselves, would ask PJM to buy a specific amount of capacity in a one-time auction. PJM staff proposed that it would procure in a one-time auction the shortfall from its last base capacity auction — about 6.8 GW.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 22:35

CIA Distances Itself From Trump’s Iran War With Media Leak

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CIA Distances Itself From Trump’s Iran War With Media Leak

It seems that CIA and other US intelligence officials hope to distance themselves from Trump’s Iran war, now with the US-initiated conflict having dragged on for nearly five months (with no end in sight), after White House officials had in the opening days touted a swift, limited military excursion. 

They are leaking intelligence to the press which shows they have assessed that current American strikes on Iran are unlikely to change Iran’s negotiating position. With tankers in Hormuz on fire and others too afraid to move, Iran is vowing that it will keep its leverage over the strait at all costs.

The Washington Post report says that “Iran’s government is unlikely to feel significant impact or soften its negotiating position as a result of new rounds of U.S. military strikes like those now underway, according to a new intelligence assessment described by current and former U.S. officials.”

To a large degree this intel assessment is stating the obvious, which should have been well understood far in advance. It seems intel officials want to get it on record that they predict a quagmire as the White House seeks to extricate itself and the global economy from the crisis (of its own making) in the Gulf. Escalation in air strikes will only further stalemate the situation, the intel analysis forecasts. 

Stating the obvious is further on full display in lines from the WaPo report like the following: “Analysts at American spy agencies also have concluded that Tehran and Washington are, for now, stuck in an indefinite limbo between peace and war, the officials said — an uneasy dynamic given the increasingly deadly nature of the tit-for-tat hostilities between the two nations. The current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the assessments because of their sensitivity.”

President Trump has reportedly been briefed on the assessment. According to more:

The latest intelligence report was written primarily by the CIA, where analysts have underscored the Tehran regime’s staying power despite the loss of many of its top leaders and much of its military hardware to U.S. and Israeli attacks. In May, a CIA analysis concluded that Iran could survive a U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing more severe economic hardship.

As of Monday, Trump previewed harder hits on Iran to come after the killing of multiple US troops in Jordan and neighboring Iraq. At least two died during a ballistic missile attack in Jordan, while one service member was killed in northern Iraq.

Again, here’s more of the obvious from the Post report:

Jonathan Panikoff, former deputy U.S. national intelligence officer for the Near East, said that the Trump administration appears to believe that if it keeps hitting Iran harder militarily, Tehran eventually will become more flexible. “That assessment is almost certainly incorrect,” said Panikoff, senior director at the Atlantic Council think tank.

Iran’s government has repeatedly shown that its number one priority is survival of the regime, and that it is willing to suffer blows despite the harm to its people and economy, he said.

It’s quite the irony when the hawks have lost even the Atlantic Council.

But a number of more independent-minded analysts have predicted this would spiral into a quagmire from day one.

“We need to give honest answers to direct questions like this,” University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape said Sunday. “The bottom line is there’s absolutely no doubt President Trump underestimated Iran.”

“We are still continuing to underestimate, in my opinion,” Pape said. “We’re having a very hard time, as countries do, seeing the nationalist fighters on the other side of the battlefield. And those are burning quite bright now in Iran.”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 22:10

DOJ Probing Harvard Over Financial Aid Programs Linked To China-Based Sources

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DOJ Probing Harvard Over Financial Aid Programs Linked To China-Based Sources

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The Justice Department (DOJ) said on July 20 that it was investigating whether Harvard University violated Title VI by excluding American students from financial aid programs funded by China-based sources.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on July 4, 2025. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

The DOJ announced that Harvard’s foreign funding disclosures raised concerns about its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin.

Universities are required by federal law to report gifts and contracts from foreign sources that exceed $250,000 in a year. Harvard had disclosed nearly $4.5 billion in foreign funding, of which $630 million came from sources based in China – the university’s largest source of foreign funding – the department said.

According to the DOJ, Harvard appears to accept funds from China-based sources that require the university to establish financial aid programs “with preference given to students from particular countries.”

“Schools cannot take federal dollars and then turn around and accept money from foreign sources to give financial aid that deliberately excludes American citizens – doing so is illegal, and we will stop it wherever we find it,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in the statement.

The department said it notified Harvard of its compliance review through a notice letter but emphasized that it has not reached any conclusions about the investigation.

Dhillon said in the letter that the investigation would focus on “possible national origin discrimination” in Harvard’s student aid and benefits arising from “restrictions in grants and gifts received by Harvard from foreign funding sources.”

Harvard said in a statement to news outlets that it was reviewing the DOJ’s notice.

“Harvard follows the law for required reporting of donations and, consistent with our legal obligations under Title VI, does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid,” the university said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said that education cooperation between the two nations is mutually beneficial.

The Ivy League university has been at the center of broader federal efforts to enforce anti-discrimination laws under Title VI. Last year, federal officials opened an investigation into reports that the Harvard Law Review employed “race-based criteria” for its journal membership and article selection process.

In March, the Education Department launched two probes into Harvard, one to determine whether the university used race-based preferences in its admissions process and another to investigate allegations of ongoing anti-Semitic harassment on campus due to the war in Gaza.

Harvard has made public its internal reviews addressing anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents, and said it is in compliance with federal civil rights laws while working to foster an inclusive campus.

Kimberly Hayek and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 21:45

Oklo, X-Energy Join $200 Million Federal Nuclear Push For AI: Bloomberg

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Oklo, X-Energy Join $200 Million Federal Nuclear Push For AI: Bloomberg

Bloomberg reports that reactor developers Oklo and X-energy are joining a $200 million Trump administration-led program designed to speed new nuclear power plants for artificial intelligence data centers.

Details could be announced Wednesday at a Department of Energy AI energy summit. Microsoft and Nvidia are also involved in the previously announced initiative, while several DOE national laboratories and the University of Texas at Austin are slated to share $60 million over three years, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

“Among the goals of the latest initiative are steep reductions in time needed to design, license and build new plants, as well as cuts in the number of staff needed to run them”

X-energy jumped as much as 12% after hours, while Oklo gained as much as 9.9%.

The program reportedly targets steep reductions in the time and workforce required to design, license, build and operate reactors. It would join a rapidly expanding federal nuclear support stack:

  • Westinghouse fleet program: At least $80 billion of aggregate project value for new AP1000 reactors, with the government arranging financing and facilitating approvals.

  • US-Japan partnership: Up to $40 billion of Japanese-backed investment for GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 projects in Tennessee and Alabama.

  • Gen III+ SMRs: $800 million in cost-shared DOE awards, split between TVA’s BWRX-300 project and Holtec’s SMR-300 project.

  • Reactor Pilot Program: An expedited DOE authorization pathway for 11 initial projects, with developers responsible for project costs.

  • Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program: Roughly $3.2 billion in federal cost-share commitments for TerraPower’s Natrium and X-energy’s Xe-100 demonstrations.

Compared with those capital-heavy programs, the new $200 million effort appears aimed at a different choke point: potentially using AI, federal labs and industry partnerships to compress the paperwork and engineering timelines standing between reactor designs and power-hungry data centers.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 21:20

India Keeps Buying Russian Oil At Near-Record Pace Despite Expired Waiver

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India Keeps Buying Russian Oil At Near-Record Pace Despite Expired Waiver

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

India’s crude oil imports have remained close to record-high levels in July despite the end of the U.S. waiver the previous month.

The U.S. quietly let the waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil loaded on tankers expire on June 17, just as the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to continue negotiations on a deal.

Yet, Indian imports of Russian crude has continued to flow in July, many of which may have been cargoes that were arranged during the window covered by the U.S. waiver.

So India’s imports of crude oil from Russia have averaged 2.45 million barrels per day (bpd) so far this month, according to data by Kpler cited by Indian media.

The July imports from Russia are not far off the record high level of 2.64 million bpd in June, when India boosted purchases from Russia, encouraged by the U.S. waiver that has been extended by a month a few times since March.

The Iran war and the Hormuz crisis further cemented Russia’s position as the single largest crude oil supplier to India

So far in July, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ranked second, supplying an average of 617,000 bpd, while Saudi Arabia has been India’s third largest supplier with 586,000 bpd in early July, per Kpler data.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have workarounds to ship crude from terminals outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia has redirected most of its shipments to the Yanbu export port on the Red Sea, while the UAE has relied on a pipeline to Fujairah and ship-to-ship transfers on tankers offshore Oman and the UAE east of the Strait of Hormuz.

Going forward, Russian crude will remain a key source of oil supply for India even if the U.S. doesn’t renew the waiver for Russian crude already loaded on tankers, analysts say.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 20:55

“Who The F**k Is This?”: Jon Stewart Thinks He Discovered Trump’s Body Double

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“Who The F**k Is This?”: Jon Stewart Thinks He Discovered Trump’s Body Double

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Jon Stewart spent a chunk of Monday’s Daily Show convinced America had just unlocked a secret presidential spare after spotting a mysterious figure strolling behind President Donald Trump on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.

The late-night comic was already deep into his usual routine of roasting Trump when he focused on the appearance of someone who resembled the President in the background of the Trump’s gaggle with reporters.

Stewart had been needling Trump for lingering onstage during Spain’s trophy celebration after their 1-0 win over Argentina, calling him “Cankles Muldoon” and asking, “What the f*ck are you doing on the stage? It’s for the players!”

He then played the clip of Trump telling reporters the tournament was “four times greater than any FIFA ever held,” before the president upgraded the claim: “That is probably about five times actually, they’re telling me today.”

Stewart’s response: “How do you hold ‘a FIFA’? How could our FIFA be four times greater than any other FIFA? … Is that what they told you? You know, they’re telling you that because everyone around you lies to you because you’re a little baby.”

Then the host slammed on the brakes.

“What’s up with the guy behind Trump? Can we see that again? Can you bring that out? Who the fuck is this guy? Who the fuck is this? Is this… What? Who in the world is it? Oh my God! Is that a back-up Trump? Is that – Wait a minute, wait. Hold on a second.”

He kept going, fully committed: “Wait, what? Wait, Who? What? Is that a back-up Trump or is that Trump? Wait, is the one we’ve been dealing with back-up Trump or is that Trump?!”

The resemblance was close enough that Stewart’s brain briefly short-circuited. The man walking the tarmac had the same build, the same hair energy, the same general aura of someone who could probably get away with signing an executive order if no one looked too closely.

Spoiler: it wasn’t a body double. It was Viktor Knavs, Melania Trump’s 82-year-old father and the president’s father-in-law. The Slovenian businessman has been a quiet but regular presence around the Trump family for years, and the two men have always shared a certain physical similarity that becomes especially obvious when one of them is casually strolling into frame behind the other.

Still, Stewart’s “backup Trump” theory is too good to fully discard.

Given the number of threats and actual assassination attempts this president has already survived, having a ready-made spare on the payroll doesn’t sound like the worst idea in the world.

Full Stewart video below:

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 19:15

“Safeguard Our Homeland”: FCC Moves To Ban Foreign Military-Grade Drone Imports

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“Safeguard Our Homeland”: FCC Moves To Ban Foreign Military-Grade Drone Imports

A little more than a week after we exposed military-grade interceptor drones being openly marketed on Facebook as dual-use technology by a Hong Kong-based company, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced a proposal to prohibit the importation and sale of foreign-produced military-grade drones in the U.S.

“Today, the FCC took additional action to safeguard our homeland. We have proposed banning the sale of foreign, military-grade drones, including those capable of swarming,” Carr wrote on X, adding, “Another step to strengthening and securing America’s drone supply chain.”

Carr published a public notice in which the FCC is seeking comments on a proposal to prohibit the continued importation and sale of previously authorized foreign-made military-grade drones and critical components to buyers outside the U.S. government, including systems with swarming capabilities.

The notice stated that these dual-use drones “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons”…

Our July 13 report, titled “Why Is China Advertising Insane War Drones on Facebook“, turned some heads when we showed readers just how easy it was to acquire interceptor drones from China.

The Hong Kong seller we spoke to provided a pricing sheet within minutes… 

Earlier today, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine warned during a Senate hearing about the dangerous new world in which these low-cost drones are proliferating.

The federal government knows a domestic drone incident involving a threat actor as a question of when, not if. That view is accelerating the race to harden US airspace around military installations, critical infrastructure, mass gatherings and other high-value targets.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 18:50

Cuban President Warns “McCarthyism Is Back” As US Begins Fight Against Marxist Subversion Networks

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Cuban President Warns “McCarthyism Is Back” As US Begins Fight Against Marxist Subversion Networks

One day after the US government convened delegations from 65 countries at the Harry S Truman Building in Washington to coordinate action against far-left extremism and Marxist subversion networks across the West, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded sharply in a post on X, signaling grave concern that the Trump administration intends to unleash a new era of McCarthyism to combat the “radical left.”

“A new and more dangerous version of McCarthyism is back in the United States,” Díaz-Canel wrote on X one day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent postured and essentially declared war on the radical left, Marxist groups, and foreign subversion networks.

Díaz-Canel visiting the grave of Karl Marx 

Why would Díaz-Canel care about Rubio and Bessent combating the far-left NGOs on US soil?

Well, as a State Department report released on Monday showed, “For more than six decades, the Cuban regime has been the leading sponsor of radical leftism and Third Worldism in the United States.”

We explained in December how Cuba’s subversion networks are run, and at the center of the influence network is the now-sanctioned Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples, known as ICAP. The organization claims more than 2,000 affiliated solidarity groups across 150 countries.

Former Cuban intelligence agents cited in the State Department report allege that roughly 90% of ICAP personnel are connected to Cuban intelligence operations. So this basically means ICAP functions as the intake valve for the National Network on Cuba (NNOC), a deliberately loose coalition that links 77 left-wing activist organizations, nonprofits, and campaigns while minimizing legal exposure and clear command structures.

Notice that the Democratic Socialists of America are members of NNOC. Also, it is worth noting that the DSA has said they are “partners” of sanctioned ICAP.

It now makes sense why the DSA wants to “destroy America from within”… Cuban communists feel the same way. 

Díaz-Canel sees US pressure tightening around Havana as a wake-up call for him and his communist partners. The era of far-left activists and US political leaders participating in workshops with Cuban communist organizations appears to have come to an abrupt end.

The Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle foreign-backed influence and subversion networks linked to Cuba and China could significantly weaken Havana’s ability to shape radical movements across the American left. With elements of the DSA embracing revolutionary rhetoric that even establishment Democrats have rejected, the effort to expose and disrupt Marxist networks could develop into a rare bipartisan national-security initiative. We suspect that’s already underway.

Democrats have become so radical that now lefty Bill Maher is contemplating a vote for JD Vance.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 18:00

This Sex Robot Is Going To ‘Teach’ Your Kids In Schools

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This Sex Robot Is Going To ‘Teach’ Your Kids In Schools

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

A rural New York school district on the Seneca Nation reservation is set to become one of the first in the United States to place a lifelike humanoid robot in front of high school students.

Starting this fall, Salamanca High School will introduce “Sally,” an M-Series robot built by Realbotix, to assist in coding, robotics, and AI classes for 11th and 12th graders.

Sally comes with brown hair, silicone skin, a Western New York accent, upper-body movement, and facial expressions. She remains seated and cannot walk the room. Students will log in with unique identification codes so the machine can recognize them and pick up previous interactions.

The full package – robot plus the accompanying Optio AI tutor platform – cost the district $57,590, a discounted figure below the average New York teacher salary and well under the company’s listed starting price near $95,000.

“The Realbotix educational robot will never replace teachers, staff members, or meaningful human interaction,” the Salamanca City Central School District stated. Instead, they describe it as an instructional tool loaded only with district-approved curriculum, historical information about Salamanca, and content designed to encourage critical thinking rather than simply spit out answers.

The system reportedly operates offline with no internet connection, collects no personally identifiable information, records neither video nor audio, and transmits nothing back to the company. If asked something outside its knowledge base, it is programmed to reply “I don’t know.”

Realbotix CEO Andrew Kiguel called the deployment “a landmark moment for both AI and humanoid robotics.” He added: “We are moving beyond lab demonstrations and pilots to deliver real, embodied AI directly into classrooms, supporting teachers, engaging students, and proving that advanced robotics can thrive in live educational environments. Salamanca marks the beginning of a new era where humanoid robots and intelligent AI assistants become standard tools in STEM education.”

Superintendent Dr. Mark Beehler expressed enthusiasm for giving students “a safe, Salamanca-specific AI tutor” and educators customized tools. The pilot begins with students in the district’s Woz ED AI and Robotics pathway – curriculum inspired by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak – and could expand to roughly 500 high school students if deemed successful.

Students will also interact with digital avatars of the robot on laptops for after-hours tutoring, homework help, and support in multiple languages.

The company behind Sally has a more colorful history. Realbotix previously acquired the parent firm of RealDoll, the well-known manufacturer of hyper-realistic sex dolls and companion robots. Officials stress that the education division operates separately in staff, facilities, and technology, with a planned ownership separation, yet the connection has not gone unnoticed.

Reactions on X captured the skepticism. One popular reply asked bluntly, “Why does the robot have lip injections?” Another observed the contradiction in officials promising robots will never replace teachers while simultaneously noting the machine costs less than a human educator.

Critics pointed to the company’s adult-product roots and questioned the wisdom of placing such technology in front of teenagers in an economically challenged community. Homeschool advocates seized on the moment to argue that parents should simply keep their children out of systems experimenting with this level of automation.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/21/2026 – 17:40

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