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Wall Street Warns Of A Deepening Oil Glut In 2026

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Wall Street Warns Of A Deepening Oil Glut In 2026

Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

  • Reuters’ monthly poll shows analysts expect WTI to average $59 in 2026 and Brent $62.23 amid persistent oversupply.

  • Executives warn U.S. shale will stagnate or decline if WTI stays in the $50–$60 range.

  • Goldman Sachs forecasts even lower prices and says the oil market won’t rebalance until 2027 after a final major supply wave.

Oversupplied markets will keep oil prices under pressure next year, and the U.S. benchmark will average below $60 per barrel, the monthly Reuters poll of analysts and economists showed on Friday.

The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, is expected to average $59 per barrel in 2026, according to the poll of 35 analysts and economists. That’s lower compared to the $60.23 per barrel forecast in last month’s survey.

The analysts expect Brent Crude, the international benchmark, to average $62.23 per barrel next year, down from $63.15 forecast in the Reuters poll in October.

Most experts cited rising supply from both OPEC+ and non-OPEC+ as the key bearish factor for oil prices next year. But lingering geopolitical risks could put a floor under prices, the analysts reckon. 

At the current price of WTI oil, shale will stagnate or start to decline, industry executives say, while shale producers look to do more with less by raising efficiency in production and capital allocation.

Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, said that “At $60-$65 a barrel WTI oil prices, the US is probably plateau-ish.”

“But if prices stay at $60 or go into the $50s, you probably are plateauing or slightly declining,” the executive added.  

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs said that oil prices are set to further drop into next year from current levels amid a large surplus on the market, with WTI Crude expected to average $53 per barrel in 2026.  

The oil market is set to rebalance in 2027 as 2026 will see “the last big oil supply wave the market has to work through,” Daan Struyven, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC last week. 

In the long term, supply growth will mostly come from OPEC, which has spare capacity and is investing in capacity expansion, according to Struyven.

Some modest growth could come from the U.S. shale patch, but this would require Brent at around $80 per barrel or so toward the end of the decade, according to Goldman Sachs.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 14:30

Coup-Coup Birds: The DC Blob Is Cornered

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Coup-Coup Birds: The DC Blob Is Cornered

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“Literally everything the left did, every line they crossed and rule they broke, all came back to slap them in the face.”

– Insurrection Barbie on “X”

Indeed, you have a lot to be thankful for this week of humble national gratitude — for instance, the explosive new revelations as to just exactly how US elections have been rigged, and how, it now appears, Mr. Trump and his people, are prepared to go mad-dog on the sinister forces behind it.

It all unspooled this Thanksgiving week, which is always a kind of a time-out from the urgent realities of the moment. And yet, while you basted your turkey (not a good practice by the way, but that’s another matter), rumors of a mysterious coup (as in coup d’é·tat) were flying all over alt media and social media.

Something or someone (a bunch of someones) have got a very dark op underway, the rumor goes. . . fault lines are opening in the US government. . . we’re in a danger zone.

This supposedly was behind last week’s “Seditionist Six” prank, the slickly produced video arranged by Senator (former CIA official) Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and sidekick Sen. Mark (“the Astronaut”) Kelly (D-AZ) advising US military personnel about the option to disobey “illegal orders” from the command structure (that is, from President Trump on down). What illegal orders? They did not specify. . . suggesting, perhaps, orders that had not yet been issued, for an emergency as yet also unspecified.

Accept, for now, the uncomfortable fact that our country has entered a miasma of uncertainty.

That is, you don’t know what’s going on. . . but something surely is going on, and it seems sort of, I dunno, momentous. . . something with the odor and flavor of a. . .“color revolution.”

By the way, everybody’s attention got focused instantly the night before Thanksgiving when one Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan brought to to the US with the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation under Operation Allies Welcome, ambushed two National Guard troops a few blocks from the White House. Specialist Sarah M. Beckstrom, age 24, died from a head wound and Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Wolfe, age 31, remains hospitalized. There was nothing else on the TV news that night except the shooting.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, turns out, had worked for nine years as a GPS tracker specialist in Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force (aka “Scorpion Forces”), initially under CIA oversight via its Special Activities Division, with some JSOC training, before transitioning to Afghan intelligence. In other words, he was not just some mook with a donkey. He had lately been taken in by a sympathetic American family in Bellingham, WA — a roughly three-thousand-mile journey to Washington DC — where he did his deed. If he flew on an airplane to get there, just how did he manage to smuggle a handgun through airport security? Or did someone, maybe, give him one on arrival in DC? Was he still, one way or another, in the employ of the CIA? I guess we’ll find out.

Now, with the nation’s attention split this week between the DC ambush story and the culinary difficulties of Thanksgiving, the election fraud story unspooled in alt media.

Surprise, surprise! Turns out to be our auld acquaintance, the Kraken? Remember that monster? Eminent DC attorney Sidney Powell, had conniptions over the Kraken in the months after the 2020 election that ushered senile (let’s just say it) “Joe Biden” into the Oval Office for four disastrous years. (After which, Sidney Powell was methodically defamed and prosecuted by mysterious forces.)

Ms. Powell threatened to “release the Kraken,” meaning: a malign combine out of Venezuela had managed to foist Dominion vote tabulation machines all over the USA, but especially in swing vote states, along with Smartmatic software. And all this janky machinery was connected by the Internet through Serbia to the CCP, or something like that. And that this machinery, plus massive voter fraud operations run by Lawfare ninjas Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and Mary McCord, with help from Mark Zuckerberg’s $400-million Center for Tech and Civic Life org, prestidigitated millions of extra votes needed to push “Joe Biden” into the winner’s circle.

Those of you who stayed up late the November night in 2020 also probably witnessed some impressive magic tricks in the election returns — for instance, the mom-and-daughter team of Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss pulling a switcheroo in the Fulton County (Atlanta) election HQ, captured on closed-circuit TV, while vote-counting was shut down for several hours due to a “broken toilet”…

Fulton County, GA, Election HQ, Nov 3, 2020 — the Night of the Broken Toilet.

…and the wondrous vote flipperooski in Michigan…

Michigan Vote Flipperooski, Election Night, 2020

…and the panel trucks delivering bales of extra ballots in the wee hours of morning to the main Philadelphia election HQ…

…and presto-change-o, you got a senile president.

This voter fraud business is evidently a global operation, involving elections in many other countries over several election cycles, carried out by a broad network of NGOs and government agencies, such as the now dismantled USAID, which acted as a money-laundering service for all these ops. A good place to start your own research is independent reporter Emerald Robinson’s “X” account.

Mr. Trump, for one, has always been adamant that the 2020 election was a fraud, but it has taken all year, apparently, to convince White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that this is so, and now, we’re told, Mr. Trump is about to go after the perps. The hard evidence is there, rumor has it, the receipts, and that is why the Democratic Party is freaking out…

…including that “Seditionist Six” message about refusing orders from the Commander-in-Chief.

The kernel of all this (maybe paranoid, maybe not) is that the DC blob is cornered and that its only hope to escape prosecution, punishment, loss of power and perqs, and possible extinction, is to pull off a coup to bum-rush Mr. Trump out of office by main force.

Meaning, our country might be at war with itself right now. Are perp walks in the offing?

*  *  * BLACK FRIDAY IS HERE

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 13:30

Trump And House GOP Are Headed For A Clash Over Obamacare Subsidies

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Trump And House GOP Are Headed For A Clash Over Obamacare Subsidies

Obamacare subsidies expire at the end of December, and it now looks like the big battle over their future won’t be between Democrats and the GOP, but between the White House and House Republicans.

Trump has said that while he doesn’t want to make the subsidies permanent, that “some kind of an extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster. It’s a disaster.”

The White House proposal caps eligibility at 700% of the federal poverty line and kills off zero-premium plans that have become a magnet for fraud. But House Speaker Mike Johnson has made it clear this idea hits a wall with the GOP. Even with these anti-fraud provisions attached, Trump’s plan still pours billions into the same broken system, and does nothing to address the key problem created by Obamacare: the skyrocketing costs of subsidies.

The obvious problem here going into midterms is optics… with millions of Americans – including a ton of lower income red state residents, forced to suddenly come up with potentially thousands of dollars more per month after already adjusting to the inflationary ‘new normal’ thanks to the egregious overreaction to the economy-killing pandemic shutdown that never should have happened in the first place.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Johnson “cautioned the White House that most House Republicans don’t have an appetite for extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, according to people familiar with the matter, showing how hard it will be politically to stave off sharp increases in healthcare costs next year for many Americans.”

The message from Johnson, in a phone call with administration officials, came as President Trump’s advisers were drafting a healthcare plan that extended the subsidies for two years.

The warning underscores the hurdles facing any deal in coming weeks. Lawmakers have a mid-December deadline for healthcare votes promised as a condition for Democrats voting to end the government shutdown earlier this month. The enhanced subsidies expire at the end of the year, affecting more than 20 million people who benefit from the tax credits. 

While the White House and GOP leadership circle each other, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has worked out a separate solution. However, their proposal still relies on extending the subsidies.

The Bipartisan Healthcare Optimization Protection Extension (HOPE) Act extends the enhanced premium tax credit for two years. It includes a lower income cap for enrollees, about $200,000 for a family of four, and phases out for those making above that (currently the subsidy is capped based on what percent of a family’s income it spends on health care). The bill would also try to crack down on fraud.

“We don’t want to see premiums skyrocket, but we probably need a deeper plan for the longer term to deal with the high cost of healthcare,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebr.). “What we’re proposing is a bridge. Let’s help keep people’s premiums down — that’s important — and it’ll give us time to work on it, maybe something better over the next year or two.”

“People are freaking out. I mean, I get phone calls from people about seeing their premiums go up by a thousand dollars a month,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, said. “That’s why we felt it was very important for us to get together as a bipartisan team to say, let’s work together and let’s force something to happen here that we can try and build consensus on.”

These solutions don’t solve the problem for millions who never qualified for subsidies, who will see their premiums soar regardless. Extending subsidies deepens the distortion and accelerates the problem. 

The subsidy fight puts Republicans in a tough spot. Johnson has already shown he will not bless another round of Obamacare cash, and most of the conference stands with him. Trump’s team is floating the idea of a temporary extension, and that puts the party on a collision course as January approaches. The CR runs out at the end of January, and nothing suggests the White House and House Republicans will bridge this gap before then.

Meanwhile, Democrats see an easy opening. They are unified, they want this fight, and they know the GOP’s internal split hands them the leverage they lacked during the last shutdown. Washington is drifting toward another stalemate, and the setup looks far worse for Republicans this time around. The stage is set for a January showdown that could break wide open once the subsidies expire.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 11:45

“Oh!…K”

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“Oh!…K”

By Michael Every of Rabobank

As Bloomberg puts it, the latest Fed Beige Book underlined a ‘deepening K-shaped split’. The very wealthy are still spending; everyone else is struggling. That split is now evident all over. AI firms are booming; most aren’t. Moreover, a day after the Financial Times spoke of people looking for “crumbs” in parts of the US, it happily reports ‘Megadeals hit new record as Wall Street’s animal spirits roar back.’ That will please the crumb-seekers.

It’s there in budgets too. Brussels just rebuked Finland for breaching EU budget rules: if even the Scandies are naughty, as they rearm aggressively, then who isn’t? The UK saw what the Telegraph calls ‘A Budget of chaos, contradiction and falsehoods’, as the Guardian noted “Rachel Reeves targets UK’s wealthiest in £26bn tax-raising budget”, and the FT said it ”raises the UK tax take to an all-time high.” Our Stefan Koopman argues it has little aimed at boosting growth, encouraging investment, restoring confidence, or reforming the tax system, and is instead “a Survival Budget instead of a Growth Budget, crafted to appease both backbench MPs and financial markets.” Yet fiddling with CPI may be enough for a divided BOE to cut a little more.

A K-shape is evident in the Fed as well. Miran makes clear he wants to do things very differently. So does Bessent. Cook’s fate is in the balance. Powell’s Miran-esque replacement may be named in weeks. This goes beyond Fed Funds. Potentially, it’s also about US (geo)political economy.

Even the FT just had to admit global trade is also now a ‘K’. Its op-ed , ‘China is making trade impossible’, argues, “There is nothing that China wants to import, nothing it does not believe it can make better and cheaper, nothing for which it wants to rely on foreigners a single day longer than it has to.” It adds what China imports, because it must, it also intends to make soon and dominate global supply of. In short, Ricardian comparative advantage is gone; China makes ‘port’ and ‘cloth’, and China will eventually dominate all key global industries. Those who read Ricardo, Chinese history, Marxism-Leninism, and neomercantilism warned about this years ago, and how it would lead to the collapse of the (neo)liberal world order – as a US commission warns China seeks an “alternative world order.” Yet ‘because markets’ types were all ‘O’-shaped: mouths agape, intellectually in a closed loop. So, here we are.

The FT op-ed concludes the EU must embrace protectionism if it wants to retain any industry as, “Europe has nothing to offer and difficult decisions to make”. It’s already heading in that direction slowly, grudgingly, blaming Trump, and still thinking it will be able to remain a net exporter as it happens, which it likely won’t. It goes without saying that Europe is K-shaped on that key front, within lobby groups in each member state, and between them – and Brussels.

In other geoeconomics, Nikkei Asia reports ‘Japan Inc.’ is trying to reduce reliance on China; the US is negotiating a trade deal with Taiwan that could help train US workers; pro-‘free-trade’ Canada announced further limits on steel imports and promised more money for its lumber mills; the Israeli army is moving away from Chinese cars to avoid tech spying; and Trump won’t invite South Africa to the Miami G-20 – maybe that global institution is at a fork in the road too.

The ECB also has a plan ‘to boost Europe’s global influence’ – making the Euro available for those worried about access to dollars. Yet the Euro’s global role is small, commodities are priced in dollars, Russia’s pushing for barter, China for CNY-invoicing, and US stablecoins about to be unleashed: so, some worry about the ECB’s access to dollars more than others’ access to Euros.

In the political realm things are always K-shaped – but now it’s a huge capital letter. The Georgia election interference case against Trump was just dropped, as was the court case against its instigator, Letitia James, on a legal technicality; but Axios notes, ‘Supreme Court poised to reshape next 3 election cycles.’ That may matter more than what it says on tariffs ahead.

It’s not just courts: every US institution is K-shaped, even the army. The White House is floating sedition charges against six Democratic politicians, including Senator Kelly, for calling for the armed forces not to obey illegal orders –without stating which ones are– as social media shows billboards encouraging troops to do so. It’s also floated on MSNBC that anyone helping that legal process would face Nuremberg-style charges if Republicans lose the 2028 election. That’s the backdrop to two US national guard soldiers being shot near the White House, following two assassination attempts against President Trump and the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Naturally, international relations are not OK, just ‘K’. China is demanding clarity from Japan on its one-China principle as the Wall Street Journal’s Ling Ling Wei reports following the Trump-Xi call, the White House told Japan to “lower the volume” on Taiwan, which Tokyo “found worrying.” Yet media are always K-shaped, so in no (Ling Ling) way does that mean this is gospel, just a view. Meanwhile, Taiwan pledged to boost defence spending by $40bn to “defend democracy” – and whom will it buying those arms from?

Regarding Russia-Ukraine, on one hand Moscow is pursuing a deal on its terms and called the leak of a Witkoff call with its team “hybrid warfare”: true, but it takes one to know one. Moreover, the US is reportedly demanding Kyiv signs a peace deal before it underlines the details of its security guarantees for it – talk about caveat emptor! On the other hand, Europe is trying to find a plan B for Kyiv if they can’t agree on using Moscow’s frozen state assets – which could blow up any peace deal; France and the UK are LARPing the 1950s, forgetting in 1956 the US was already showing them who did and didn’t have ‘strategic autonomy’ in the Suez Crisis; and the EU’s top diplomat, Kallas, is saying a peace deal should insist the Russian military’s size is capped – worryingly, there seems a K-shaped divergence between that idea and a nuclear-armed reality.

In the Middle East, ‘Scions of Iran’s revolution call for reset with the world’, claims the FT, as a “New generation of political elites seek overhaul of ties with west and Arab states.” Then again, there also intel reports that Iran is considering a major strike against Israel, which runs the other way.

And in Africa, Nigeria’s President has declared a security emergency and ordered the mass recruitment of police and army, having been warned by Trump about the need to protect the country’s Christian communities. So, over to a US military focus on Venezuela then? Newsweek has it that ‘Defiant Maduro rallies Venezuela for US war.’

The important point here is that the average of any K-shape looks like Ͱ rather than a letter of the alphabet: it has no meaning. In the same way, there is no useful mean to the conflating developments above, just uncomfortable up- or -down-legs. Nor is there a comfortable median to assume some kind of return to.

“Oh!…K” indeed.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 11:20

Fentanyl Trafficking Rings Run By Illegal Immigrants Dismantled Across Washington

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Fentanyl Trafficking Rings Run By Illegal Immigrants Dismantled Across Washington

In his Nov. 24 op-ed, Seattle conservative commentator Jason Rantz puts a sharp spotlight on what he frames as the overlooked reality of Washington’s fentanyl pipeline: that major trafficking networks are increasingly being run or staffed by illegal immigrants.

Rantz reports that federal agents dismantled two international drug rings in October—one tied to Ecuador, the other to Mexico—resulting in more than 18 arrests and the seizure of millions of lethal fentanyl doses, narcotics, illegal firearms, and even an improvised explosive device.

Rantz writes that the central revelation is that “many of the suspects… are in this country illegally,” a detail he says federal officials had not previously made public. U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd confirmed to The Jason Rantz Show that not all suspects are U.S. citizens and that investigators routinely discover unlawful status during arrests.

Floyd argued that the public deserves clarity about who is behind these crimes, even as investigations themselves are not driven by immigration status. As he told Rantz, “It’s fair for the public to know… the Trump administration is not wrong about the fact that many of the people that are here illegally are committing crimes, and very serious crimes.”

The Ecuador-linked Gutama Escandon network pushing fentanyl and meth across the Puget Sound region, and the Mexico-connected ring in rural Lewis County tied to 105,000 fentanyl pills and 34 kilograms of powder—amounts the DEA equates to more than 3 million potentially deadly doses, according to 770AM.

For Rantz, the takeaway is blunt. These cases show that Washington’s fentanyl crisis cannot be separated from immigration realities, despite political narratives that portray illegal immigrants as uniformly harmless.

By surfacing details federal authorities acknowledge but often do not publicize, Rantz argues the public can better understand the forces driving the drug epidemic devastating communities across the state.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 11:00

Zelensky’s Closest, Most-Powerful Aide Resigns After Office Raided By Anti-Corruption Agents

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Zelensky’s Closest, Most-Powerful Aide Resigns After Office Raided By Anti-Corruption Agents

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, has submitted his resignation – the highest level official to fall amid the massive graft probe which has brought rare international embarrassment on the Zelensky government.

As a reminder, Andrew Korybko recently opined that Yermak’s removal could prompt some progress in peace talks:

He’s Zelensky’s powerbroker so his downfall could undo the already shaky alliance between the armed forces, the oligarchs, the secret police, and parliament that keeps Zelensky in power, thus pressuring him into peace, especially if his warmongering grey cardinal is no longer pushing him to keep fighting.

Earlier The Associated Post reported Friday: “Anti-corruption units have raided the home, and reportedly also the office, of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak.” Zelensky now says he will hold consultations on replacing Yermak.

This is a huge and very high level development in the country’s ongoing graft investigation scandal as Yermak is essentially the closest one can get to Zelensky, given the top presidential aide was made by Zelensky chief negotiator in talks with the United States. Some speculate this appointment was made precisely to protect Yermak from criminal charges.

AFP/Getty Images

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAP, confirmed they had officially sanctioned searches at the office of President Zelensky’s top aide, again emphasizing the probe has extended all the way to the top. Could this be the beginning of the end for Zelensky himself?

The $100 million energy sector corruption scandal has already embroiled and resulted in the dismissals of several top ministers and officials.

Yermak had earlier deneid wrongdoing, and is vowing personal transparency as the investigation unfolds. “The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote on Telegram. He said his lawyers were present for the searches, and that he’s cooperating fully.

Zelensky makes the televised, ‘shocking’ announcement of Yermak being ousted dismissed:

It’s as yet unknown and unclear precisely what Yermak is being accused of in terms a potential role in the energy kickback and graft scandal, but the growing pressure which has entered the heart of the presidential office has huge political repercussions:

Although Yermak has not been accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelenskyy’s party said Yermak should take responsibility for the energy sector scandal in order to restore public trust. Some said that if Zelenskyy didn’t fire him, the party could split, threatening the president’s parliamentary majority. But Zelenskyy defied them.

But local critics of the anti-corruption action say this is an attempt to bring unprecedented pressure on Zelensky. Reports say that 10 NABU and SAPO officers were on premise to search Yermak’s office, which is just a few dozen meters from the president’s office.

One Ukrainian lawmaker, Yaroslav Zheleznyak of the Holos party, wrote that segments of parliament stand ready to defend the anti-corruption agencies should they find anything at this highest level of government. “NABU and SAPO are conducting searches at [the home of] Andriy Yermak this morning. If anything, get ready to defend NABU/SAPO if necessary,” Zheleznyak wrote.

What hard evidence involves Yermak? If there’s not enough, political retaliation could follow…

As chief negotiator, Yermak has presented Zelensky’s hard line on the Trump-proposed peace plan to end the war. Yermak was for example just cited in The Atlantic as saying, “No sane person would sign away territory.” He has argued that the national constitution forbids it and thus Zelensky “will not” agree to territorial concessions.

And, if the Zelensky administration keeps losing public and international trust amid the massive corruption probe, which has already proven highly embarrassing, Kiev’s ‘firm line’ on the negotiations could indeed quickly soften.

*  *  * BLACK FRIDAY SALE IS HERE AT ZeroHedge Store!

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 10:35

Harvard Report Warns Of ‘Damaging’ Grade Inflation, 60% Of Grades Are A’s

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Harvard Report Warns Of ‘Damaging’ Grade Inflation, 60% Of Grades Are A’s

Authored by Cecilia Jones via TheCollegeFix.com,

Harvard University’s Office of Undergraduate Education is raising concerns about mounting grade inflation, reporting that the school’s grading system is “damaging the academic culture of the College.”

The office sent a 25-page report to faculty and students, stating that 60 percent of all undergraduate grades are now A’s. This is a 35 percent increase compared to 20 years ago, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Veronica Bryant, academic affairs fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, told The Fix that if Harvard allows grade inflation to skyrocket, the problem will worsen at other schools.

“‘As goes Harvard, so goes the nation’ is a phrase for a reason. If other schools see America’s oldest and most prestigious university as weakening standards, why should they keep high standards, especially as they compete for fewer and fewer students?” she said.

Bryant told The Fix that Harvard’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years with stories such as the resignation of President Claudine Gay and a 2023 New Yorker article in which a Harvard administrator stated that Harvard students struggled to identify the subjects and verbs within The Scarlet Letter. 

Furthermore, the question of academic rigor extends beyond grade inflation, with many voicing concerns about a general lowering of expectations, she said.

“Harvard students receive only the smallest educational foundation. It only requires one subject of all students: a writing course, according to ACTA’s What Will They Learn?(R) project,” Bryant told The Fix.

However, she also said it is a good sign that Harvard appears to be taking the issue seriously.

“Gen Z values authenticity. We hope they will take steps to ensure grades actually reflect student performance, not just reduce the number of A’s,” she said.

“If Harvard makes this bold move, others may follow their lead,” Bryant said.

The report itself underscores the severity of the problem.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Amanda Claybaugh wrote in the report that “Nearly all faculty expressed serious concern.”

They believe the grades students receive no longer reflect the actual quality of their work, she wrote.

Further, the dean stated that “grading is … also too inconsistent, as students have observed. More importantly, our grading no longer performs its primary functions and is undermining our academic mission.”

Claybaugh’s report also recommends several steps to curb this issue.

It urges instructors to clearly define what level of work merits each grade and to reintroduce in-person, sit-down exams, arguing they are vital in the age of AI.

It also calls for more consistent grading across different sections of the same course, noting that students are often frustrated by disparities among teaching fellows.

Moreover, the report notes that a faculty committee is considering allowing instructors to award a small number of A+ grades to distinguish exceptional work. The committee is additionally weighing whether to list each course’s median grade on student transcripts as another way to reduce grade inflation.

Harvey Mansfield, a retired Harvard professor, wrote in The Crimson, “The principle of merit used to get into Harvard is abandoned once there.”

He wrote that students seek to distinguish themselves through extracurriculars, creating an environment where academics are put on the back burner.

Mansfield added that a measure implemented in 2008, which required faculty to participate in course evaluations, led professors to inflate students’ grades.

The Crimson published a series of student editorials that present a wide range of responses. Some students praised the report for encouraging higher standards, while others suggested eliminating general education requirements.

Harvard students Jack Flanigan, Edward Hall, and Ari Kohn, who lead the university’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative, stated that the academic culture has eroded, as “faculty maintain low expectations for students’ effort, while students expect little of their professors in return.”

Though many students criticized the proposed solutions within the report, all acknowledged that grade inflation was negatively impacting the student experience.

The Fix reached out to Harvard media relations and Amanda Claybaugh for comments, but did not receive a response.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 10:20

Putin Says US Plan Could Be ‘Basis’ For Ukraine Deal

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Putin Says US Plan Could Be ‘Basis’ For Ukraine Deal

Authored by Dave DeCamp via Antiwar.com,

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday spoke favorably about the US’s initial 28-point draft for a potential peace deal in Ukraine, saying it could serve as the “basis” for a future agreement, though he said work still needs to be done to turn it into a concrete plan.

“In general, we agree that this could be the basis for future agreements,” Putin told reporters during a visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

“However, it would be inappropriate for me to speak now of any final versions, as these do not exist.”

The initial US draft was altered during talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Geneva, but the exact changes are unclear.

Putin said that he understood that the officials “decided among themselves that all these 28 points should be divided into four separate components. All of this was passed on to us.”

Putin speaking to journalists in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on November 27, 2025 (Kremlin photo)

Putin said that it was clear the US was taking some Russian positions “into account” but that more discussions were needed.

“There are, unquestionably, areas where we need to sit down and engage in serious discussions on specific points, and all such matters must be framed in proper diplomatic language,” he said.

The Russian leader also said it was “ridiculous” that Russia was being asked to commit to not attacking Europe since it has no plans to do so.

“We never had any such intentions. But if they want to have it formalized, let’s do it, no problem,” he said.

While speaking positively about the US proposal, Putin also said it was pointless to sign agreements with the Ukrainian government, which he said was not legitimate because of the lack of elections in Ukraine. The initial US plan called for elections within 100 days of the deal’s signing.

“Signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless. I have emphasized this on many occasions. I believe that the Ukrainian authorities made a fundamental and strategic mistake when they succumbed to the fear of participating in the presidential elections. As a result, the president lost his legitimate status,” Putin said.

Putin also made clear that if Ukraine doesn’t cede territory, he was content with continuing the war.

“If they don’t withdraw, we will achieve this through military means,” he said.

Putin also confirmed that President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be traveling to Moscow next week to discuss the deal.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 09:40

“Are You Stupid?”: Watch Trump Blast Leftist Media Over Biden Immigration Debacle

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“Are You Stupid?”: Watch Trump Blast Leftist Media Over Biden Immigration Debacle

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

President Trump refused to play the games of the leftist media Thursday, at one point going off on a reporter, labelling them a “stupid person.”

The reporter asked Trump “Why are you blaming Biden?! [for the DC National Guard attack]”

TRUMP responded, “Are you a STUPID PERSON?” adding, “Because they LET HIM IN,” referring to the Afghan national suspect.

“Are you STUPID? They came on a plane with thousands who shouldn’t be here,” Trump continued, adding “And you’re just asking questions ’cause you’re a stupid person!”

“And there’s a law passed where it’s almost IMPOSSIBLE to get them out. You can’t get them out once they get in!” Trump further blasted.

As we earlier highlighted, somewhere in the region of 85 THOUSAND Afghans entered the U.S. under Biden, with a basically non-existent vetting process.

Earlier in the briefing, the President had to deliver the awful news that 20 year old U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of Summersville, West Virginia has passed away after the horrific attack.

Trump further urged, “We have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country. For the most part, we don’t want them.”

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 09:05

Trump Says South Africa Won’t Be Invited To 2026 Miami G20 Summit

survivalnomics
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Trump Says South Africa Won’t Be Invited To 2026 Miami G20 Summit

U.S. President Donald Trump said South Africa won’t be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Florida, after the United States boycotted this year’s gathering in Johannesburg.

“At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a Senior Representative from our U.S. Embassy, who attended the Closing Ceremony,” Trump said in a Nov. 26 post on Truth Social.

“Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year.”

In the post, Trump also accused the South African government of “killing white people” and “randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them,” which he said was the reason Washington boycotted this year’s summit.

“South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately,” he added.

As Guy Birchall details below for The Epoch Times, the presidency of the G20 rotates.

South Africa assumed it in December 2024 and will hold it through November, after which the United States will assume the role.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office described Trump’s missive as a “regrettable statement,” and said that not inviting his country to next year’s summit was a punitive measure. The office said the U.S. president was spreading “misinformation and distortions” about South Africa.

“As the United States was not present at the summit, instruments of the G20 Presidency were duly handover [sic] to a US Embassy official at the Headquarters of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation,” Ramaphosa’s office said in the statement.

The office said South Africa “is a member of the G20 in its own name and right” and that its membership of the group “is at the behest of all other members.”

“South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democratic country and does not appreciate insults from another country about its worth in participating in global platforms,” his office added, saying that it will “never insult another country.”

During the G20 meeting in Johannesburg, leaders adopted a declaration on Nov. 22 to address climate concerns and other global issues despite U.S. objections.

The declaration, drafted without input from the United States, “can’t be renegotiated,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told reporters at the time.

(Front row, L–R) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Angolan President and Chairperson of the African Union João Lourenço, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pose for a group photo on the opening day of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit, in Johannesburg on Nov. 22, 2025. Gianluigi Guercia/AP

The White House said in response that South Africa had “weaponized” its leadership of the group.

G20 declarations are usually made by unanimous consent. The United States had offered to send the U.S. chargé d’affaires for the handover. South Africa rejected that offer.

Magwenya said that the South African president “will not hand over to a junior embassy official the presidency of the G20.”

“It’s a breach of protocol that is not going to be accommodated,” Magwenya added.

Trump had announced that he would not be attending the G20 event this year on Nov. 7, repeating accusations of human rights abuses against white South Africans.

“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social at the time. “Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.”

South African officials at the time called the president’s remarks regrettable and denied allegations of persecution.

“The characterisation of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical,” South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in a Nov. 8 statement. “Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution, is not substantiated by fact.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the State Dining Room at the White House on Oct. 8, 2025. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also boycotted a meeting of G20 foreign ministers held in South Africa in February.

Since taking office, Trump has criticized South Africa’s domestic and foreign policies, including its land expropriation law and its accusations that Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip. Israel denies the accusations.

Since the end of apartheid, Pretoria has implemented what it calls affirmative action and Black Economic Empowerment policies, but the South African government has denied seizing land belonging to white citizens.

The next G20 summit will take place at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami, Florida, in December 2026.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/28/2025 – 08:55

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