Midwest Braces For Diesel Crisis After Exxon's Joliet Refinery Suffers Disruption

A major refinery in the US Midwest went offline this week after a power outage, adding to global refining disruptions as US diesel prices reach record highs.

Exxon Mobil shut its 275,000-barrel-a-day Joliet refinery in Illinois on Sunday after a power failure triggered the facility's safety flare, Reuters reported. A Thursday filing also disclosed that floodwater had overwhelmed a pump at the plant.

Exxon traced the power outage to ComEd's primary and secondary lines supplying the refinery and said it had fully restored electricity by Thursday. Power restoration, however, does not mean fuel production has resumed.

Located about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, Joliet can produce about 11 million gallons of gasoline and diesel daily, primarily for Midwest consumers. Its processing capacity represents roughly 6% of Midwest refining capacity and 1.5% nationally.

A prolonged shutdown would tighten regional fuel availability and risk further price increases across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

"There's an additional likelihood of further price increases in the Great Lakes. Gas: OH is at high risk of largest jump, WI, IN are at med risk of moderate jump, MI, IL at low/med risk but could go past $5/gal. diesel: will likely jump in most these areas mod/large jump," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote on X.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/midwest-braces-diesel-crisis-after-exxons-joliet-refinery-suffers-disruption

Flock Camera Ping Jails Innocent Woman For 13 Days

A 23-year-old Palm Coast Florida woman spent 13 days in a Volusia County jail cell facing life in prison after Florida Highway Patrol troopers treated a Flock Safety camera hit like a confession.

Lindsey Brooke Isaacs did not cause the crash. Her black Dodge Durango had no collision damage. A 911 caller had already described a maroon Durango and a partial plate that was not hers. None of that stopped the machine-assisted hunt.

The October 4, 2025 hit-and-run on eastbound I-4 near DeBary killed motorcyclist Joaquin Deno, Flagler County Deputy Administrator Jorge Salinas, and Salinas' wife, Nancy. A fourth person was badly hurt. Witnesses described a Dodge Durango fleeing the scene. Investigators searched nearby Flock cameras for a black Durango and found Isaacs' tag, RJVN10, crossing the Seminole-Volusia line at 9:51 p.m., about three miles west of a wreck that started around 9:53 p.m.

Innocent Florida woman spent 13 days in jail after cops' use of Flock cameras incorrectly blamed her in fatal hit & run

https://twitter.com/i/status/2100633195330859514

That ping became the case.

Troopers later pounded on Isaacs' door while she was asleep. "I thought I was getting set up. I didn't understand what was going on," she said. They seized the Durango for months and claimed "marks" consistent with the crash.

Photographs later showed an immaculate 2025 SUV. "Where is the damage on the vehicle? Because I'm standing right in front of it and I don't see any damage," Isaacs recalled.

On April 17, 2026, FHP booked her on eight felonies, including three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death. She was held without bond, then sat in G Block for 13 days. "Being incarcerated, falsely incarcerated, in jail, in G Block, was the worst 13 days in my life," she said. "I was devastated, I was scared. I thought my life was over."

Attorney Patrick McGeehan did the work the camera search replaced. A time-and-distance analysis using the same Flock timestamp put Isaacs past the crash site when the collision happened. "In Lindsey's case, there was nothing indicating that she was ever there," he said.

A 911 caller described a maroon Durango and the partial plate "458." Paint transfer on a struck Ford Focus was maroon. Isaacs' plate did not match. Witnesses had described three different vehicles: black, white, and maroon. "For some reason, [Florida Highway Patrol] never went past the black Dodge Durango," McGeehan said. "They hooked onto this black Dodge Durango to the exclusion of everything else." He called it "confirmation bias, to the highest degree" and "a major failure of basic investigative skills."

"Lindsey wasn't even at the crash scene," he told NewsNation. "These were investigators that got it in their mind that there was a black Dodge Durango involved. They got on Flock, found the first black Dodge Durango, that belonged to Lindsey Isaacs, and pinned that on her."

https://modernity.news/2026/09/18/flock-camera-ping-jails-innocent-woman-for-13-days/

Lamont says he’s ‘shocked’ Diamantis fled before sentencing

Gov. Ned Lamont said he is confident federal authorities will find Kosta Diamantis, the former deputy budget director who fled the country ahead of sentencing.

Lamont said he was told about Diamantis’ route out of the country: a drive to Florida, a boat ride to the Bahamas, a flight to London, and eventually Greece.

“It’s shocking to me that this guy, with a judgment that big, is able to get away like that. It’s a federal matter, and I hope they hold him accountable and get him,” Lamont said.

Lamont said Diamantis should have been wearing an ankle bracelet. “I can’t believe he didn’t have an ankle bracelet and all the things you need to make sure he’s there,” he said.

Lamont named Diamantis deputy budget director in 2019. He said he fired Diamantis in 2021 once the scandal became public and hired a former U.S. attorney to conduct an independent ethics investigation.

“When he was with the state, I fired the guy immediately. We hired a former U.S. attorney to investigate everything. “We did our piece of that. Now it’s up to the feds to make sure he pays his just deserts,” Lamont said.

Lamont said Diamantis should face a longer sentence now that he has fled the country. “We have to hold this guy accountable,” Lamont said.

State Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, Lamont’s challenger in the November gubernatorial election, said Lamont should be criticized for retaining Diamantis when he first became governor and later promoting him to deputy budget director.

“Ned Lamont promoted Kosta Diamantis. That’s a fact. If you make enough bad decisions on the job, that needs to be a mark against your record,” Fazio said.

Fazio also said, “It’s just another example of corruption run amok in Connecticut. This is one of the worst cases. “This guy needs to be in jail for a super long time, and there needs to be accountability in this state—and that means the guy who gave him a promotion.”

State Comptroller Sean Scanlon said he has discontinued the direct deposit of Diamantis’ monthly state pension payment, reportedly more than $6,000 a month, or between $72,000 and $75,000 a year. “I have discontinued the direct deposit of his monthly pension payment. No one who has been convicted of defrauding taxpayers and is now fleeing justice should continue receiving a pension,” Scanlon said.

Attorney General William Tong also weighed in, saying Diamantis abused the public trust and will be held accountable. Tong said Diamantis’ disappearance is “a shameful insult to every person in Connecticut.”

https://www.wfsb.com/2026/09/17/lamont-says-hes-shocked-diamantis-fled-before-sentencing/

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, have written seven-figure checks to stop California voters from requiring ID at the ballot box.

State campaign-finance records show Hastings gave $1 million on September 3 to a labor-backed committee fighting Proposition 39. Quillin separately dumped $1.5 million into an ACLU-tied anti-Prop 39 committee.

Combined, that is $2.5 million from one Silicon Valley household to keep California one of the last states where you can vote without showing a real government ID.

The New York Post first flagged the Hastings check this week. The Fair Political Practices Commission’s (FPPC) latest ballot-measure donor list confirms both gifts.

The FPPC’s top-contributor list shows Hastings gave $1 million to the committee “No on 39 – Block Election Rigging.”

Quillin contributed $1.5 million to “No on Prop. 39 – Californians for Voting Rights.” Together, their reported contributions total $2.5 million.

Proposition 39 is a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It would require:

Government-issued identification for in-person voting

The last four digits of a designated government ID number on mail-ballot envelopes

Election officials to use “best efforts” and government data to verify that registered voters are U.S. citizens

Annual public reports on how much of each county’s roll has been citizenship-checked

A free state-issued voter ID card for anyone who asks for one

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/netflix-co-founder-reed-hastings-wife-dump-2/

South Korea will not deploy troops or military assets to intervene in the Iran war, President Lee said Friday.

“There will be no involvement or intervention in the war,” Lee said, adding Seoul would carry out only “the minimum necessary activities” to protect South Korean merchant ships and oil routes.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2100843598392459697

Indian court grants bail to US national in terror training case – report

Matthew VanDyke was arrested along with six Ukrainians for crossing over to Myanmar to allegedly train militant ethnic groups

A US national arrested along with six Ukrainians by India’s anti-terror agency for allegedly providing terror training to armed groups in neighboring Myanmar, was granted bail by a Delhi court on Friday.

The court granted the bail after the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which arrested them in March, failed to file a chargesheet on the terror charges within the mandatory 180-day period. The judge said that the agency’s chargesheet, which contained only sections relating to immigration, was a “piecemeal” job, according to the Bar and Bench website which reports on court proceedings.

That the agency is still investigating the offenses under the more stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, does not mean that VanDyke is not entitled to default bail, Special NIA Judge Prashant Sharma said.

He added that all the other co-accused persons in the case are also entitled to default bail, if they apply for it.

VanDyke is the founder of Sons of Liberty International, which provides military training in conflict zones. He has reportedly been involved in conflicts in the past, including fighting with Libyan rebels in 2011.

The Ukrainians arrested with VanDyke are Viktor Kaminskyi, Petro Hurba, Taras Slyviak, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Marian Stefankiv, and Maksim Honcharuk. The NIA had accused them of entering the restricted areas in India’s northeast without permits, and crossing over to Myanmar to impart terror training to ethnic groups there.

The agency had previously told the court it had found evidence that multiple consignments of drones from Europe were delivered by the accused to individuals and groups in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, and that they were involved in a drone strike on a Burmese civilian plane.

The seven were arrested from different cities while trying to fly out of India.

The court said that while on bail, VanDyke must stay in Delhi and appear before the NIA whenever required. He will be released on a personal bond of about $1,000 and a surety of the same amount.

https://www.rt.com/india/645955-us-national-india-bail/

Ukrainian Drone Hits Russian Nuclear Plant Days After Trump Energy Truce Plea

President Trump raised eyebrows when on Monday he declared that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's oil and energy infrastructure, amid global crude and diesel supply problems related mostly to the Hormuz Strait crisis.

But then within days later it became clear that the default reality on the ground has persisted, as energy sites continue to get pummeled. And it's not only refineries and ports which have continued getting hit, but as of Thursday morning a Russian nuclear plant was apparently targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack.

A drone hit the cooling tower of a reactor unit at Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency has announced Friday.

The unit was operating at the time, but its operating mode was unchanged and no fire broke out.

The UN agency's director Rafael Grossi declared in a statement that "all attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable as they could endanger nuclear safety and security, irrespective of where they occur."

He urged "maximum military restraint to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident" - which remains a top dangerous reality of the battlefield in the context of the Ukraine war.

In early July the same site had suffered a prior drone attack from Ukraine. One industry source reviews:

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (Kursk NPP) has been the target of several military actions and drone strikes. The most notable incident occurred in August 2025 when a drone detonated and damaged an auxiliary transformer, sparking a structural fire that had to be contained by emergency teams. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitored the event and confirmed that radiation levels remained normal.

The Kremlin going back to 2024 has accused Ukrainian forces of seeking a 'provocation' at the Kursk nuclear plant.

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) lies about 25 miles west of the city of Kursk, which is the administrative center of the oblast by the same name.

The plant continues to be a major electricity producer for Russia. Kremlin officials have long voiced alarm that Ukraine may seek to use some major provocation to draw its backers in NATO deeper into the conflict.

Apparently on Ukraine's target bank going back years…

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukrainian-drones-hit-russian-nuclear-plant-days-after-trump-energy-truce-plea

At least 16 killed in bomb blast in northwest Pakistan

A suicide bomber ‌rammed an explosives-laden car into a police facility in Kohat city as people were praying at a mosque inside

A suicide car bomber and accompanying gunmen struck a police facility in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 16 people – including five police officers – during prayers at a mosque, officials have said.

The vehicle rammed into an outer ⁠wall of the police facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Kohat city, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed was reported as saying. “It was a suicide attack,” he added.

Police personnel, their family members, and other civilians were offering Friday prayers at the mosque when the attackers struck. The explosion damaged the mosque and nearby structures, and created a crater in the area, reports said.

Security forces were engaged in a gun battle with the attackers and one assailant wearing an explosives-vest was killed, the police said in a statement.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the casualties.

Militant attacks have risen in Pakistan’s border areas in recent months, with violence flaring up after each attack. Fifteen police officers were killed in a similar car bombing and ambush in Bannu in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in May.

Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of hosting the militants and the Pakistani military has launched attacks inside Afghanistan in response. Kabul, however, says the strikes are hitting civilians, including women and children.

The bombing of a mosque in Islamabad in February killed more than 30 people, and in March, a Pakistani attack on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul killed hundreds, according to Afghan officials.

https://www.rt.com/news/645948-pakistan-car-bomb-attack/

DSA Candidate Claire Valdez Vows to Fight for Mexico’s ‘Land and Labor’ in U.S. Congressional Bid.

Claire Valdez, a member of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America and the Democrat nominee for New York’s 7th Congressional District, has vowed to continue the “fight” of the Mexican War of Independence.

On Wednesday, Claire Valdez, a Democrat running for New York’s 7th Congressional District, invoked the Mexican War of Independence in a post on X (formerly Twitter) and vowed to “carry that fight” into the U.S. Congress. “215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won. I’ll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York’s first Mexican American representative,” Valdez posted on X. Significantly, the “Reconquista” (Reconquest) movement among some Mexicans and Mexican Americans calls for much of the Southwest U.S. to be retaken by Mexico. Valdez also expressed admiration for Morena, the left-wing party that currently governs Mexico. “And I’m strengthened not just by Mexico’s history but its present. Last month I met comrades in Morena who are standing up to the empires and corporations that have always taken from us – and building a government for the working class. ¡Viva la Independencia, Viva México!” she added. Valdez is a member of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and has received support from Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani, who is also a member of the DSA. She identifies as Mexican despite being born in the United States.

Valdez’s comments have drawn significant criticism, raising questions about her national loyalty and whether her campaign puts the values and priorities of Americans first. This demonstrates the ongoing capture of the Democrat Party by the far-left DSA and identity politics more broadly. Valdez is currently the New York State Assembly member for the 37th District, although she will likely be elected in November, as the 7th Congressional District of New York is a reliably Democrat-voting area. While the DSA has some concentrated support in New York City, statewide New Yorkers have a negative view of the organization, with only 30 percent having a favorable view, compared to 47 percent who have a negative view.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2026/09/18/dsa-candidate-claire-valdez-vows-to-fight-for-mexicos-land-and-labour-in-u-s-congressional-bid/

Former US Ambassador Barred From Leaving Allied Nation Speaks Out To Daily Caller

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Morse Tan tells the Daily Caller that South Korea has placed travel bans on him, describing it as a freedom of speech violation after having criticized the nation’s president, including for thoughts shared while in the U.S.

Tan shared details about the impending trial, the current state of South Korea, its relationships with North Korea and China, and how the Trump administration is responding.

He has spoken at numerous events in South Korea and the U.S. about what he described as corruption in South Korea’s current administration; his remarks have led to defamation charges against him.

The first followed an event in Washington, D.C., last June, where Tan said: “It is said that [President Lee Jae Myung], as a youth, was involved in gang-raping and murdering a young lady, and as a result was put in juvenile detention and therefore was not able to attend junior high and high school.”

The second count stemmed from what Tan described as “A series of questions relating to what was asked of me” regarding the allegations while speaking at a public event in South Korea last July.

Since returning to South Korea in May to monitor an election, Tan has been barred from leaving the country five times as he awaits trial.

Tan described it as a “show trial,” which has since been delayed until mid-Oct. and could lead to seven years in prison if he is convicted.

“This is wrong on every level and from every angle,” Tan said, adding that he still believes the claims he made. He reiterated that he was merely referring to what others have reported and that many others have made similar claims without facing the same legal scrutiny.

Tan also said he should not be held criminally liable for something he said in good faith about a public figure while in the U.S., adding that the charges are also in violation of free speech protections in South Korean law, as well as treaties that it has signed.

“From whichever angle you want to look at it, this case really is not meritorious,” Tan, a former dean of Liberty University School of Law, said, adding that he has “not been given due process.”

While he said the case would be unfair to anyone, the barring of a former Trump administration ambassador is “a punch in Trump’s face,” Tan told the Caller.

Tan told the Caller that he is speaking with members of the administration, but didn’t want to get into detail about who he spoke with or what options are being discussed.

A spokesperson for the State Department told the Daily Caller that the administration has “no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans.”

“The United States firmly supports every American’s right to freedom of expression and stands ready to raise our concerns directly with foreign governments when they use criminal defamation or similar laws to punish U.S. citizens for political speech,” the spokesperson said. “In particular, we are concerned by any action taken by a foreign government to apply its law to pursue charges against a U.S. citizen for statements made in the United States.”

The spokesperson added that they take concerns of any American citizens subject to exit bans seriously, but due to privacy considerations, they had no more to share on the specifics of Tan’s case.

Tan told the Caller that those running South Korea today “should be thought of as North Korean operatives.”

“What you’re talking about is what President Trump correctly identified as a revolution and a purge,” Tan said, adding that “pro-North Korean elements have seized power here in South Korea. And so they are rapidly communizing the country and extinguishing basic rights and freedoms.”

He also argued that although the South Korean people love America, its leadership has turned the Korean peninsula “into a vassal state of the Chinese Communist Party.”

https://dailycaller.com/2026/09/18/morse-tan-ambassador-south-korea-trial-free-speech-travel-ban-donald-trump-china-north-korea/

‘Astonishing Theft’: New York Times’ Lawsuit Against OpenAI Reveals How AI Kingpins Think About Copyright

New filings in The New York Times‘ copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft allege that OpenAI’s president was told about a method for bypassing the newspaper’s paywall and responded with apparent approval. One Microsoft executive commented internally that OpenAI’s scraping of copyrighted material amounted to “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.”

The Financial Times reports that the New York Times and other media outlets are seeking billions of dollars in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing the companies infringed copyright by training AI models on publishers’ content without permission. Lawyers for the Times filed new evidence Thursday in a case that turns on whether AI systems built on copyrighted journalism amount to theft or fair use.

The filing alleges that “defendants repeatedly copied millions of . . . copyrighted articles in their entirety without permission to produce substitutive commercial AI products.”

One new detail: OpenAI allegedly used techniques to get around the Times‘ paywall, and Greg Brockman, the company’s co-founder and now its president, knew about it. An employee told Brockman about “a hack to get around NY Times paywall,” the filing says. Brockman’s reported response was “ah nice.”

The filing also cites writing attributed to Brockman from around 2017, in which he described being “deeply motivated by the gazillions” as he considered commercializing OpenAI’s technology.

OpenAI says training its models on publicly available content is fair use, arguing that its large language models transform rather than replicate original material. But the filing quotes OpenAI’s own head of ChatGPT describing AI products as an “existential threat” to publishers, adding that such products “are largely substitutive, period [and] will get more and more substitutive as they get better.”

Brent Hecht, Microsoft’s director of applied science, is quoted describing the training of large language models on copyrighted content as “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.” He’s also quoted warning that a win for OpenAI and Microsoft would “make a complete mockery of the idea of ‘fair use.'” Microsoft’s response: “these comments reflect one employee’s individual perspective, are not a legal analysis.”

Separately, Microsoft’s own data, cited in the filing, shows click-through rates to the underlying content were 83% to 93% lower for users of its AI answer tools than for users of a traditional search engine.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, testified in the case that he “had been made aware that OpenAI had scraped and trained on information that was behind a paywall.” He also testified about an agreement letting Microsoft require OpenAI to retrain its models under certain conditions, saying he would have required OpenAI “to retrain its models” over the paywall issue. Microsoft said Nadella’s testimony “spoke to broad principles and changes under way in how people find and consume information” and was not a “conclusion about copyright questions.”

Evan Swarztrauber, principal of technology policy firm CorePoint Strategies, told Breitbart News: “Microsoft and OpenAI’s legal defense is that scraping copyrighted material for training data is “fair use” and not a competitive threat to content creators. In private, their executives admitted the exact opposite: that their conduct is theft that threatens the livelihoods of publishers and other copyright holders.”

AI continues to test every facet of the economy and America’s traditional legal framework for doing business. Breitbart News social media director Wynton Hall has written his New York Times bestseller Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2026/09/18/astonishing-theft-new-york-times-lawsuit-against-openai-reveals-how-ai-kingpins-think-about-copyright/

F-35 parts lost after rerouted to Hong Kong, raising prospect China has hands on key tech — report

Sensitive F-35 parts went missing after being suddenly diverted to Hong Kong on their journey from Australia to the United States, raising the prospect that China may have obtained highly classified fighter jet technology, Politico reports, citing three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss the private discussions.

Politico says the Pentagon confirmed the disappearance, which occurred during the summer, saying it is “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components” and is working to retrieve them.

One of the missing parts includes one of the jet’s canopies, which benefits from unique stealth technology available only to the US and its allies (among them Israel), two of the sources tell Politico. A rival could reverse-engineer the part if they obtained it.

Keep Watching

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According to Politico, it is unclear why the components, which were being transported by an intermediary on behalf of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, were diverted to Hong Kong.

Key Congressional national security committees and State and Defense Department officials were briefed on the matter in June, with additional meetings to be held in the upcoming weeks, sources tell Politico.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/f-35-parts-lost-after-rerouted-to-hong-kong-raising-prospect-china-has-hands-on-key-tech-report/

U.S. Makes, Israel Takes: The Real Story of U.S.-Israeli Military Cooperation

The Iron Beam laser and Arrow anti-ballistic missile systems are touted as examples of Israeli military ingenuity. But they were largely developed and financed by the U.S.

When Israel deployed its Iron Beam laser weapon for the first time last December, the announcement by leading Israeli defense firms Rafael and Elbit Systems was met with fawning coverage worldwide. The futuristic laser system, designed to shoot drones and rockets out of the sky, was celebrated as a demonstration of the Israeli weapons industry’s technological sophistication.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense described Iron Beam as “Israel’s first domestically developed laser interception system,” while touting the country as a pioneer in missile defense. The Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, another key example of Israel’s purportedly homegrown ingenuity, was heavily employed to defend from Iranian missile attacks during two recent wars.

That alleged ingenuity is at the center of a debate roiling Washington this month as Congress returns to debates about whether to create a new office in the Pentagon to coordinate U.S. and Israeli military research, testing, and industrial production, giving institutional architecture to a relationship that is already deeply intertwined on a de facto basis. The legislation, known as Section 219, was included in the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act, but remains contested in the Senate. Backers of the bill argue that tighter coordination with Israel should not be seen as a giveaway or cost to the United States, but rather is a boon to U.S. military capacity because the U.S. benefits more from the partnership than Israel. Arrow and Iron Beam are routinely held up as case studies of such innovation.

But the real story of how these weapons were developed is quite different. In fact, both weapons systems were developed and financed by the United States before being handed off to Israel by acts of Congress, according to government documents and interviews with key personnel involved in their development—despite warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies that transferring the tech to Israel effectively hands it over to U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia.

The pattern has long been cause for concern inside the intelligence community and among some in the Pentagon, but the mandates have come directly from Congress.

David Pyne, who worked as a civilian in the Pentagon office that oversaw development of the Arrow 2 program in the early 2000s, said it still bothered him that the American military put in so much work, and American taxpayers footed the bill, yet the U.S. couldn’t even fully benefit from the system. “They didn’t contribute a dime into the program, but the thing that pissed me off at the time, and obviously since, is that they would not share the final product,” said Pyne in relation to Israeli participation in the program.

Israel did spend money on the program, which is typically described as being split roughly down the middle by the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. directly contributed more than $4 billion, while Israel’s portion was paid for largely with U.S.-supplied foreign military financing.

That left Pyne frustrated at the amount of control Israel retained over the technology. “They wouldn’t allow us to use the technology we co-developed with them at 100% U.S. taxpayer expense,” Pyne said.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) became the primary contractor producing Arrow 2, though the U.S. maintained a veto over who it could be sold to, which it exercised at one point in the case of India. In 2002, Boeing cut a deal with IAI to make component parts for it, and the U.S. has ultimately been able to exploit some of the technology.

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-iron-beam-arrow-section-219

Joe Rogan is demanding Americans let “artificial intelligence” run the US government, because the AI would stop all wars

AI is used as a scape goat. It always does what it’s told to do.

You cannot prove otherwise.

Joe Rogan: “My hope is as AI becomes more omnipresent, as we start farming off various tasks to it, one of the things we’re gonna farm off is government, how we interact with other countries. I know that’s terrifying to people, but just think of the disastrous effects we’ve had so far with humans doing it. If all international military conflicts ended instantaneously upon AI governing the use of conflicts and military weapons. Imagine that? Imagine a war where it stops. All war stops on the planet”

https://twitter.com/i/status/2099940592469831999

>>25051416

The AI is in charge in GAZA

Global Fuel Protests Erupt: Burning Tires Block Roads In Syria, Rationing Sparks Chaos In Indonesia And Bangladesh, And Protesters Set Vehicles On Fire In Guatemala

It was only a matter of time before widespread protests began to occur. Global supplies of gasoline and diesel have been getting tighter for months, and now prices are soaring and rationing has started in some parts of the world. Needless to say, a lot of ordinary people are very angry about this. Large protests have suddenly erupted all over the planet this month, and if the fuel crisis of 2026 continues to intensify it is probably inevitable that the protests will get even larger.

Here in the United States, the average price of diesel reached six dollars a gallon for the very first time last week, and a lot of Americans are grumbling about that.

But in other parts of the world, people are absolutely livid.

In Syria, the government has raised the price of diesel by about 40 percent and the price of gasoline by about 25 percent.

This has sparked a series of wild protests all over the country.

On Sunday, protesters that are deeply angry about higher fuel prices were publicly burning tires…

Video filmed by Reuters news agency from the scene of a protest in Aleppo on Sunday shows people burning tires and shouting chants criticizing the governments’ fuel hike decision.

“All those present here want a reduction in diesel prices. We don’t want higher wages, we want cheaper (fuel),” one Syrian protester, Yasser Salim, told Reuters.

288 million people live in Indonesia, and it is very heavily dependent on imported oil.

Not enough foreign oil has been arriving in recent months, and now a crisis point has been reached.

It is being reported that Indonesia is currently experiencing a trifecta of “fuel shortages, blackouts and rationing”…

In Indonesia, fuel shortages, blackouts and rationing have fuelled public anger.

In Makassar, South Sulawesi, residents have reported shortages of cooking gas and gasoline, while taxi drivers protested against fuel rationing based on odd and even vehicle registration numbers.

Students also demonstrated in Yogyakarta against rising fuel prices.

I have been warning my readers that shortages and rationing would first start popping up in Asia.

Now that day has arrived.

At this point, the nation of Bangladesh is “suffering power shortages that have forced rationing and temporary closures at garment factories”…

Bangladesh, which imports more than 90% of the petroleum it consumes, is suffering power shortages that have forced rationing and temporary closures at garment factories.

Some factories switched to diesel as gas supplies tightened, only to be hit by rising diesel prices. Power cuts at one factory in Gazipur were occurring four or five times a day.

The global fuel crisis has even started to cause unrest in North America.

This month, mass protests have been occurring all over the nation of Guatemala.

In some cases, enraged protesters have been actually setting entire vehicles on fire…

In Guatemala, transport workers, taxi drivers and Indigenous people have all protested against rising fuel prices.

The U.S. non-profit ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data) said by Sept. 4, there had been 40 demonstrations across 27 cities. Along with higher fuel prices due to the conflict in the Middle East, the country has been dealing with El Niño-related droughts.

Tensions rose last week when organized truckers and other groups blocked roads, set vehicles on fire, attacked police with weapons and caused destruction in several parts of the country, mainly in the Guatemalan capital.

https://themostimportantnews.com/archives/global-fuel-protests-erupt-burning-tires-block-roads-in-syria-rationing-sparks-chaos-in-indonesia-and-bangladesh-and-protesters-set-vehicles-on-fire-in-guatemala

Merz wants your real name on the internet and calls free speech an American habit

Merz says that he wants new laws that would make it impossible to post anonymously on social media.

He says “don’t give me any of that free speech nonsense”

He also says that the state must be able to protect its citizens from misinformation.

Many famous writers published sensitive information and books under pseudonym, including John Locke, Thomas Paine, Baruch Spinoza and Jonathan Swift.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2100184737100820889

Hundreds of Palm Beach County residents face threats of expulsion from a public hearing for speaking out against the County’s massive investment in Israel bonds, which amounts to a Billion dollars

after the January 2026 purchase, the Palm Beach Clerk’s office described the $1 billion position as the “most significant investment in Israel bonds of any investor in the world.” Contemporary reporting likewise describes Palm Beach as the world’s largest local-government investor in Israel bonds.

Caruso, a certified public accountant and former state lawmaker whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Clerk in August, added that the purchase was strategically timed to maximize returns for taxpayers and is expected to generate $47.2 million in interest income over 3 years.

The purchase was finalized Tuesday. Caruso is scheduled to answer questions about it at a Wednesday press conference.

Caruso stressed that the decision was driven solely by financial considerations.

“Investment policy is not politics, but are purely a function of safety, liquidity and a market rate of return,” he said in a statement.

“Israel Bonds are paying a higher rate than other allowable investment alternatives, including U.S. Treasuries, and will provide a substantial return on investment for the people of Palm Beach County.”

The expanded investment follows a unanimous vote by Palm Beach County Commissioners on Oct. 21, 2025, to temporarily raise the cap on Israel Bond investments from 15% to 18% of the county’s overall investment portfolio.

In April 2024, Palm Beach County’s investment in Israel represented roughly a quarter of all bonds the Middle Eastern country had sold globally since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Under Florida law, Israel Bonds are among a limited set of authorized fixed-income investments available to local governments.

Other permitted options include certificates of deposit, money market funds and direct obligations of the U.S. government and its agencies. Palm Beach uses earnings from its investment portfolio to help offset costs for taxpayers.

Caruso’s Office said certified investment professionals actively manage the portfolio under the County Investment Policy, which sets standards for risk management, liquidity and reporting.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/772059-palm-beach-county-hits-1b-mark-in-israel-bond-investments/

Norman Finkelstein Reveals Shocking Discoveries While Researching History of Israel's Gaza Obsession

https://youtu.be/Jmv2h1WYnNo

Project Safe Schools: Federal grand jury returns 7-count indictment against elementary school teacher and former principal for conspiracy scheme that endangered children

DALLAS — United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced that on Sept. 16, a federal grand jury indicted Michael Raymond Roell, also known as “Johnathan Michael,” and Wendy Bailey, former principal of Crosby Elementary School in Forney ISD, for orchestrating a scheme that concealed Roell’s prior history of alleged abuse and misconduct, and enabled him to obtain a position as a special‑education teacher within the district.

The duo is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud for their alleged roles in facilitating Roell’s fraudulent entry into the school district.

“The allegations in this indictment represent a profound violation of trust,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “A school is supposed to be a place where children are safe and protected, not a place where an educator with a known history of misconduct can walk back into a classroom because someone in a position of authority helped him hide who he really was – a predator that targets special needs children. This office will use every tool available to aggressively prosecute anyone who compromises the safety of children or undermines the integrity of our public institutions. These individuals did not just conspire to break the law, they actively and maliciously put children at risk.”

“This indictment demonstrates the lengths these two defendants went to circumvent a hiring process meant to keep our schools and students safe,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that students not only receive a good education, but that education is provided in a safe environment.”

According to the indictment, on or about June 6, 2016, Roell was arrested and charged in Dallas County, with one count of indecency with a child – sexual conduct after accusations he touched at least one student in the groin area and observed the student as they used the restroom. Roell was terminated from his position with Garland ISD. These prior allegations, which were known to Bailey, were concealed during the hiring process, and were red flags that would have impacted his eligibility for employment if adequately disclosed.

The indictment alleges that to circumvent hiring safeguards, Roell, encouraged by Bailey, legally changed his name from Michael Raymond Roell to Johnathan Michael, then submitted an employment application to Forney ISD that concealed his prior identity, criminal charges, and misconduct and disciplinary history. Prosecutors allege that Bailey used her position as principal to promote Roell’s candidacy, participate in hiring communications and help move his falsified application forward.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/project-safe-schools-federal-grand-jury-returns-7-count-indictment-against-elementary

Steve Eisman of The Big Short is absolutely correct here, they're trying to convince the government to bail out the trillions wasted on attempting to achieve AI

Now they know it's impossible and the lending has run dry.

Sam Altman is a sociopath and LLMs only do what you tell them to. He's the perfect person to be blamed for the collapse of the financial system and imposition of digital IDs.

x.com/CEOinterview/s…

https://twitter.com/i/status/2100799893254099430

>>25051478

Jewish radio host says he 'charmed' JD Vance after previous criticism for wavering Israel support

The highly publicized meeting occurred amid Vance’s attempt to make overtures to the Jewish community following a series of controversial remarks about Israel.

“I went in there with very low expectations,” Rosenberg told the hosts of WABC Radio’s Cats & Cosby.

Noting that multiple people had assured him Vance would win him over, Rosenberg confirmed that “he did.”

“I think I charmed him more,” he said.

The highly publicized meeting occurred amid Vance’s attempt to make overtures to the Jewish community following a series of controversial remarks about Israel, in order to shore up its support for a possible 2028 presidential run.

Rosenberg, a Jewish New Yorker and friend of US President Donald Trump, has faulted Vance for not being “strong enough on Israel.” He has also called for Vance to distance himself from Tucker Carlson, a right-wing commentator who regularly condemns US military support for Israel and has been accused of amplifying antisemitic tropes.

“Honestly, I’ve been very critical of JD, very critical,” said Rosenberg, who hosts his own WABC show, Sid & Friends In The Morning.

He told Rita Cosby and her co-host John Catsimatidis that he was “really surprised” to receive an invitation to meet with the vice president, after they both spoke last month at a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas.

“The talk was that I was going to grill JD Vance on Tucker Carlson and the Israel comments he’s been making as of late,” Rosenberg said. “This was more of a get-to-know-each-other session.”

While Rosenberg explained that most of their conversation would remain off the record, he emphasized that “it went well” and they “hit it off,” adding that the two men would likely have “many more meetings about very substantial things” in the future.

Though he remained outspoken about his preference for Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a 2028 presidential nominee, Rosenberg said that if Vance is “going to be our guy,” he left Thursday’s meeting feeling like he could work with him.

“He is willing to listen,” Rosenberg said. “I don’t think by any stretch that JD Vance hates Israel, hates the Jewish people.”

Just a few hours before Rosenberg’s meeting with the vice president, i24 News reported that Vance was also planning to host a Shabbat dinner this week as a method of outreach to Jewish Republicans.

“Vice President Vance is making considerable outreach efforts to the American Jewish community, particularly with this Shabbat dinner,” Shabbos Kestenbaum, a pro-Israel campus activist who spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024, told The Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-909053

>>25051489

always deflecting