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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:40:00 +0000

3 US Warships Dispatched To Haiti As Part Of Campaign Against Drug Traffickers

3 US Warships Dispatched To Haiti As Part Of Campaign Against Drug Traffickers

Unrest in Haiti

Haiti has been mired in political and economic turmoil since July 2021, when President Jovenel Mo�se was assassinated at his home in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, by a group of mercenaries, most of whom were Colombian nationals.

Gangs have proliferated and begun to dominate large parts of Haiti, and in May 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated two of the largest gangs, Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif, as foreign terrorist organizations.

In November 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump published a new National Security Strategy, which calls for expanded naval and Coast Guard operations and aggressive targeting of drug cartels.

�We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States,� the strategy document states. �We want a Hemisphere whose governments cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations.�

Haiti has not had elections since 2016. A nine-member Transitional Presidential Council was appointed in April 2024, but has been marked by allegations of corruption and a declining security situation in Haiti.

On Jan. 23, Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aim�, who was appointed by the Transitional Presidential Council, spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the call �reaffirmed U.S. support for Haiti�s stability and security.�

�The current violence caused by gangs can only be stopped with consistent, strong leadership, with the full support of the Haitian people,� the State Department said. Rubio said the Transitional Presidential Council �must be dissolved by February 7 without corrupt actors seeking to interfere in Haiti�s path to elected governance for their own gains.�

Last month the State Department took steps to revoke the visas of two unidentified members of Haiti�s Transitional Presidential ?Council (TPC) and their immediate families because of their alleged involvement in gangs.

�These actions are being taken due to the TPC members� involvement in the operation of gangs and other criminal organizations in Haiti, including through interference with the Government of Haiti�s efforts to counter gangs designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by the United States,� the State Department said in a Jan. 25 statement.

In September 2025 the United Nations Security Council authorized the conversion of a Multinational Security Support mission�which had been deployed in Haiti in June 2024�into a 5,500-strong Gang Suppression Force.

China, Russia, and Pakistan abstained in the vote.

In December 2025, the United States and Canada said 18 entities had offered personnel, resources, and technical support for the Gang Suppression Force.

�We were looking for 5,500 forces,� Rubio said on Dec. 19, 2025. �We already have pledges of up to 7,500 forces from a variety of countries. We�ve seen donors step up to fund that effort.�

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 17:40
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:20:00 +0000

Red Wedding At WaPo: Hundreds Axed In Widespread Layoffs

Red Wedding At WaPo: Hundreds Axed In Widespread Layoffs

The Washington Post on Wednesday�told employees that it was launching a widespread round of layoffs, which will amount to roughly 30% of all employees.

< Read more.....

Red Wedding At WaPo: Hundreds Axed In Widespread Layoffs

The Washington Post on Wednesday�told employees that it was launching a widespread round of layoffs, which will amount to roughly 30% of all employees.

Most affected will be the Sports, Local News, and International sections, according to the�NY Times, citing two people with knowledge of the decision. Of the outlet's roughly 800 journalists, more than�300 are getting the axe.

And of course,�the left-wing media complex is firmly blaming owner Jeff Bezos�- who decided�not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 election�before vowing to be less biased as an organization.�

The Atlantic, owned by Epstein pal Laurene Jobs, was very dramatic:

The�NY Times�also framed it as Bezos' fault, writing;

The cuts are a sign that Jeff Bezos, who became one of the world�s richest people by selling things on the internet, has not yet figured out how to build and maintain a profitable publication on the internet. The paper expanded during the first several years of his ownership, but the company has sputtered more recently.

In a Wednesday call,�executive editor Matt Murray told employees�that the company had been losing too much money for too long, and had not been meeting readers' needs. As a result,�all sections will be affected in some way, and what rises from the ashes would be a publication more focused on national news and politics, business, and health, and less on other things.

"If anything, today is about positioning ourselves to become more essential to people�s lives in what is becoming a more crowded, competitive and complicated media landscape," Murray said. "And after some years when, candidly, The Post has had struggles."

Murray also said that search traffic has plummeted nearly in half over the last three years,�partly due to the rise of generative AI - and that the Post's "daily story output has substantially fallen in the last five years."

"Even as we produce much excellent work, we too often write from one perspective, for one slice of the audience," he said.�

Learn to Vibecode

[pause for a second, open this, hit play, continue reading]

In memoriam:�

I have been laid off today from the @washingtonpost, along with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I�m heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally � editors and correspondents�
� Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 4, 2026

I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. https://t.co/dVCLF39YV1
� lizzie johnson (@lizziejohnsonnn) February 4, 2026

Some personal news: I�m among today�s @washingtonpost layoffs. It was a dream 11-year run as an investigative reporter focused on sports�making billionaires tremble (or at least mildly annoying them and their lawyers.)

A few highlights from the ride: ??
� Will Hobson (@TheWillHobson) February 4, 2026

Average WaPo journalist today after spending a decade trying to help cancel ZeroHedge and advising laid off coal workers to learn to code:

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 17:20
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Why The 'Hype Phase' Of Wind And Solar Is Over

Why The 'Hype Phase' Of Wind And Solar Is Over

Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epo Read more.....

Why The 'Hype Phase' Of Wind And Solar Is Over
Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration has taken a sharp turn from its predecessor regarding wind and solar energy, curtailing many of the loans, grants, and permitting that the Biden administration had put in place.

Without government subsidies and regulatory support, energy analysts are questioning whether these industries can stand on their own merits.

�We�ve reached the end of the hype phase, and the beginning of the reality phase,� Sam Romain, chairman of Americans for Energy Dominance, told The Epoch Times.

�Technologies that lower costs, improve reliability, and strengthen the grid will grow.

�Those that don�t will fade.�

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump�suspended new leases and permits for wind and solar on public lands and waters and raised fees for existing projects. Subsequently, his One Big Beautiful Bill Act set tighter deadlines to cut off subsidies to wind and solar energy projects, putting more than $300 billion in planned wind and solar investments at risk of cancellation.

In August 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy canceled $679 million in federal funding for 12 offshore wind projects across the United States, stating that the administration is �prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.�

And in December 2025, the Interior Department halted leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States, citing security risks.

Calling the wind installations �expensive, unreliable [and] heavily subsidized,� Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted on X that �ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED.�

Without these subsidies, many analysts say wind and solar power will struggle to survive, at least on the scale that was envisioned under the Biden administration.

�Wind and solar won�t be able to credibly compete with affordable, reliable baseload sources like gas, coal, and nuclear at the utility scale,� Sarah Montalbano, energy policy analyst at Always On Energy Research, told The Epoch Times. �Intermittent wind and solar depend on tax credits and state mandates that require their construction.�

Today, some analysts say, developers are putting many renewable projects on hold, waiting until another Democratic administration takes the White House.

�For the remainder of Trump�s term, wind and solar will be in decline,� H. Sterling Burnett, director of climate and environmental policy at The Heartland Institute, told The Epoch Times. �Whether that sticks depends upon who is the next president.

Climate change activists hold signs during a news conference with members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 13, 2025. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has slashed subsidies and canceled permits on federal lands for wind and solar energy�an industry that has long thrived on government subsidies. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

�Some wind and solar will be built due to state support and mandates, especially those already contracted for and under construction, but the money spigot is ending and that will doom new developments,� Burnett said.

As of January, there are 4,202 planned solar projects and 802 planned wind projects in development in the United States, according to Cleanview, an energy analytics firm.

State Support for Wind, Solar

While renewable energy has lost some of its strongest advocates in Washington, experts say that the industry will survive, even if scaled back, because regulation of power generation was reserved to the states in the 1920 Federal Power Act, within their borders.

And many states, particularly those run by Democrats, have regulations in place that require or incentivize utilities to buy wind and solar power over gas, coal, and nuclear.

However, even in those states that favor them, wind and solar energy are running up against two major hurdles: reliability and cost.

When comparing wind or solar to alternatives such as nuclear, �you�re comparing two very unlike things,� said Bill Glahn, policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment and former deputy commerce commissioner for the state of Minnesota.

One is �an intermittent resource that may last 10 to 20 years before the equipment breaks down and has to be replaced, versus a 24/7 dispatchable plant that could be around 50 to 70 years,� Glahn told The Epoch Times.

He said the nuclear plants currently operating in Minnesota were built in the 1970s and will likely operate until 2040 or beyond.

�Wind and solar can�t compete on that basis,� he said.

Oilfield pump jacks in Williston, N.D., on Dec. 21, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Hidden Costs

Renewable energy was supposed to be a cheaper energy source, advocates claimed, because wind and sunshine are free. However, the true aggregate cost of these technologies has been obscured in several ways.

First, weather-dependent energy requires backup systems, typically gas-fired plants, to generate electricity when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. However, the cost of building and running these backup systems is generally not attributed to the wind and solar plants that required them.

There are also additional costs to build new distribution lines to transmit electricity from the often remote locations where wind and solar power are generated to end users in cities and towns.

�With so many of these projects, be they wind or solar, you have to either upgrade a transmission line or upgrade the local distribution system to put those assets on the grid, and those costs are never assigned to wind and solar,� Glahn said. �The wind and solar projects cause the transmission projects to be needed�and these are multi-billion dollar projects�but that cost all gets assigned, in this extremely bizarre twist, to resources that are running and that are useful.�

In Minnesota, the source that is running is usually nuclear power and natural gas, so the additional transmission costs are attributed to them, Glahn said.

�We put the thumb on the scale to make sure wind and solar pass some rudimentary cost-benefit analysis by just out and out cheating, and it�s super frustrating,� he said.

Another hidden cost is that wind and solar plants typically have shorter lifespans than gas, coal, and nuclear plants, and the expense of decommissioning them is often also not taken into account in the way that it is with traditional power plants.

An October 2025 study by Curtis Schube and Mark Mills for the National Center for Energy Analytics found that, while 30 U.S. states made little or no provisions for decommissioning wind and solar plants, the vast majority of states did so for coal, gas, and nuclear plants. In many cases, this could leave local residents with the bill for cleanup, once wind and solar facilities reach the end of their relatively short lives.

Discarded wind turbine blades are seen in a field next to the Sweetwater Cemetery in Sweetwater, Texas, on Oct. 4, 2023. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

There are currently more than 75,000 wind turbines operating across 45 U.S. states, and more than 5,700 large-scale solar installations across 49 states, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In both cases, the first installations were built prior to 1990, putting many of them close to their decommissioning date.

Consumers often bear all of these additional costs through higher utility bills and higher taxes.

Environmental organizations that advocate net-zero policies and wind and solar construction often have strong lobbying support in state legislatures, as do public utilities that simply pass on their costs to consumers, Glahn said.

�Utilities make sure that they�re going to come out of this neutral, but the consumers are the ones who get screwed, and there�s really nobody to speak for them at the capitol,� he said.

Struggle to Pay Electric Bills

This more sober assessment of the costs and benefits of wind and solar is happening at a time when Americans increasingly are struggling to pay their electric bills.

A 2025 report by the Century Foundation states that average electricity prices have climbed by 32 percent since 2022 and as a result, 14 million Americans�or about one in 20 households�are on track to have unpaid utility bills sent to collection agencies.

�If a policy drives up bills and increases blackout risk, it�s not sustainable,� Romain said. �These �net zero� mandates are often written by elites who never worry about paying their power bill.�

A December 2025 study by the Institute for Energy Research found that 86 percent of the states with electricity prices above the national average were Democrat-led, or �reliably blue.� All of the five states with the highest electric bills had mandates requiring that 100 percent of their power must come from carbon-free sources.

By contrast, 20 of the 25 states with the lowest electricity prices were red states, and seven of the 10 states with the cheapest electricity did not have 100 percent carbon-free mandates.

Energy analyst Robert Bryce cited the case of New York in a recent�op-ed published in the New York Post. The state just approved a $615 per year rate hike in gas and electricity bills for the average New York City resident by 2028. The state�s political leaders have not only incentivized utilities to build wind and solar capacity, but also shuttered the Indian Point nuclear plant, which produced one-quarter of New York City�s electricity.

Closing Indian Point will cost between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion by 2030, Bryce said, and as a result of such policies, New York�s electricity prices are now 58 percent above the national average.

The Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River in Buchanan, N.Y., on March 22, 2011. Bill Glahn, a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, said nuclear plants have longer life spans than wind and solar and are �24/7 dispatchable,� making them more reliable. Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images

Renewable Rejection

And while Americans may not have control over their electric bills, they are increasingly fighting back against the installations of large wind and solar projects in their neighborhoods.

�It was clear before the end of subsidies that Big Wind was facing more and more friction from local communities fighting back against their projects,� Bryce told The Epoch Times, citing the most recent example of the California Energy Commission rejecting the Fountain Wind project in Shasta County.

According to Bryce�s database, Renewable Rejection, there have been 1,148 cases to date of local communities working to halt the installation of wind, solar, or battery projects.

Wind turbines obstruct views and injure wildlife, and both wind and solar facilities consume significantly more acreage than traditional energy plants, according to a 2024 report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

�When it comes to land use, nuclear plants take up as little as 10 hectares per terawatt-hour of electricity produced per year, while wind uses about 100 hectares, measuring just the area taken up by turbines,� the report found.

�This rises to an astounding 10,000 hectares if you include all the land covered by a wind farm, but most of this space is open land and can be used for ranching or farming.�

In January, a federal judge�blocked the Trump administration�s attempt to revoke permits for five offshore wind projects, allowing several of them to resume construction. According to Burnett, however, even if these wind projects move through to completion, there will likely be delays and cost overruns.

�Dozens of offshore wind projects approved and permitted by the Biden administration have already ceased construction and withdrawn from the projects simply due to economics,� Burnett said. �Materials costs keep rising and supply chain problems have hampered construction.�

Wind turbines operate in a field in Beulah, N.D., on Dec. 22, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Because much of the material for wind turbines and solar panels originates in China, construction costs are being driven even higher by tariffs imposed on Chinese imports.

As their costs rise, many wind developers have repeatedly gone back to states to renegotiate terms, �and still they�ve pulled out,� Burnett said. �The remaining five projects still under construction will cost ratepayers billions of dollars, pollute the oceans, kill protected species, compromise national security, and provide relatively little reliable power.�

An aerial view shows the Kayenta Solar Plant in Kayenta, Ariz., on June 23, 2024. Observers said that the true aggregate cost of renewable energy is often understated because existing utilities must build the new lines to carry power from remote wind and solar sites to cities and towns. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

However, the prospects for solar energy are likely brighter than for wind.

�It is important to distinguish between massive wind and solar farms that stretch for miles and the solar panels that homeowners install on their rooftops,� Romain said.

�The economics of home batteries and rooftop solar work for a lot of Americans, which is why they privately installed 4.7 gigawatts of rooftop solar in 2024 alone�roughly the output of five nuclear plants.�

Bryce concurs.

�Solar will continue to grow for several reasons: It is politically popular, in many cases the economics work without subsidies, and solar land-use requirements are about one-tenth those of wind,� he said.

�The only thing dumber than onshore wind energy is offshore wind energy.�

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 17:00
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 21:40:29 +0000

Google Goes Wild After Hours After Beating Estimates, Projects Mindblowing CapEx

Google Goes Wild After Hours After Beating Estimates, Projects Mindblowing CapEx

Heading into today's Alphabet earnings, we said that as a result of positioning (GOOGL positioning was 9.5/10 according to Goldman's desk), it would be Read more.....

Google Goes Wild After Hours After Beating Estimates, Projects Mindblowing CapEx

Heading into today's Alphabet earnings, we said that as a result of positioning (GOOGL positioning was 9.5/10 according to Goldman's desk), it would be difficult for the stock, which was already priced to perfection, to impress an increasingly skeptical Wall Street, especially on the day when momentum saw its 4th biggest drop on record.�

Well, that's what happened, at least initially because despite solid results which beat across the board, the company's shocking 2026 capex guidance (a mindblowing $175-185BN, double the 2025 number and crushing the estimate of ) absolutely spooked investors, who promptly sent the stock down as much as 7.5% after hours. But more remarkably, after losing as much as $350BN in market cap in kneejerk response to the company's stunning capex forecast, the stock managed to rebound and even turn green, a reversal of some $800BN in the span of minutes!

Here is what GOOGLE just reported for Q4:.�

EPS $2.82, up 31% vs. $2.15 y/y, beating estimate $2.65
�
Revenue ex-TAC $97.23 billion, +19% y/y, beating estimates of $95.17 billion�
- Revenue $113.83 billion, +18% y/y, beating estimates of $111.4 billion,
- Google Services revenue $95.86 billion, +14% y/y, beating estimates of $94.9 billion
- Google advertising revenue $82.28 billion, +14% y/y, beating estimates of $80.89 billion
- Google Search & Other Revenue $63.07 billion, +17% y/y, beating�estimates of $61.37BN, and buyside�bogey of 16% growth
- YouTube ads revenue $11.38 billion, +8.7% y/y, missing estimates of $11.78 billion
- Google Network Revenue $7.83 billion, -1.6% y/y, beating estimate $7.78 billion
- Google Subscriptions, Platforms and Devices Revenue $13.58 billion, +17% y/y, missing estimate $13.81 billion
- Google Cloud revenue $17.66 billion, +48% y/y, beating estimates of $16.2BN, and smashing buyside bogey of 40% growth
- Other Bets revenue $370 million, -7.5% y/y, missing estimate of $443.8 million
- Hedging losses $68 million vs. $20 million y/y, below estimate $108 million

Of the numbers above, perhaps the most important one was Google Cloud which saw a continued surge in customer demand as revenues increased 48% to $17.7 billion, led by an increase in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) across enterprise AI Infrastructure and enterprise AI Solutions, as well as core GCP products.�

Going down the line:�

Total TAC $16.60 billion, +12% y/y, above the estimate $16.19 billion
�
Operating income $35.93 billion, +16% y/y, missing estimates $36.95 billion
- Google Services operating income $40.13 billion, +22% y/y, beating estimates of $38.01 billion
- Google Cloud operating income $5.31 billion vs. $2.09 billion y/y, smashing estimates of $3.65 billion
- Other Bets operating loss $3.62 billion vs. loss $1.17 billion y/y, below the estimate loss $1.3 billion
- Alphabet-level activities operating loss $5.89 billion vs. loss $2.78 billion y/y, worse than estimate loss $3.57 billion
- Operating margin 32% vs. 32% y/y, missing estimate 33.1%

Here, attention immediately goes to the disappointing operating income, however, it is worth noting that consolidated operating income increased 16% and operating margin was 31.6%, both missing estimates, because operating income included a $2.1 billion employee compensation charge for Waymo. Excluding this one-time item, both would have beat expectations.�

Next, we look at capex and find that the Q4 number was not too crazy; in fact at $27.85BN for Q4 it actually missed estimates.�

Capital expenditure $27.851 billion vs. $14.28 billion y/y, below estimate $28.17 billion
Number of employees 190,820, +4.1% y/y, below estimates of 191,138

Visual summary of the results:

CEO Sundar Pichai said the investments are paying off. �We�re seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board,� he said in the�statement. �Search saw more usage than ever before, with AI continuing to drive an expansionary moment.� Google Cloud revenue was $17.7 billion, beating the $16.2 billion analysts expected,�and is now growing at an�annual run rate of over $70 billion, "representing a wide breadth of customers, driven by demand for AI products."

Alphabet also noted that YouTube�s annual revenues surpassed $60 billion across ads and subscriptions; and the it now has over 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer services, led by strong adoption for Google One and YouTube Premium.

Some more commentary on the quarter:

4Q Gemini App monthly active users exceed over 750 million vs. over 650 million q/q
Google�s Gemini app, available on android, iPhone and web offers the company�s flagship AI model
Maintained quarterly cash dividend at 21c/shr, estimate 21c/shr

So far so good: in fact, Q4 on its own was solid enough to beat even the more aggressive estimates. But what shocked Wall Street and what sent the stock tumbling in kneejerk reaction (before it bounced) was the company's shocking announcement:

We�re seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board. To meet customer demand and capitalize on the growing opportunities we have ahead of us, our 2026 CapEx investments are anticipated to be in the range of $175 to $185 billion.�

That number is.... insane because it is almost double GOOGL's 2025 capex of $92BN, and a cool $60BN, or 50% more than the forecast $119.5BN!

The massive capex raise should ease nerves that the AI bubble is bursting: the industry has leaned on Google�s progress. Google is�supplying up to one million�of its specialized AI chips to Anthropic, cementing Google�s position as a key infrastructure provider in the AI space. Gemini will also be a provider of AI for Siri on Apple Inc.�s iPhones. The Gemini app has 750 million montly active users .

Still, to justify its heavy spending, Alphabet will need to demonstrate momentum in its cloud and search advertising businesses. The company has said its massive investments in AI - funding new infrastructure, research and talent - are essential for competing against rivals including Amazon.com, Microsoft and OpenAI.

Google has raced to reinvent its business for the AI age, working to keep consumers in the habit of going to its search page even when they could also go to chatbots from rivals like OpenAI. The company has quickly improved its Gemini model and integrated it throughout its products, an effort that has required massive investment in data centers and chips for model improvement and cloud customers.

In response to these crazy numbers, the stock first tumbled, dropping as much as 7.5% before rebounding and even trading green on the day.

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 16:40
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 21:40:00 +0000

DC Finally Breaks Longest Freeze Streak Since 1989

DC Finally Breaks Longest Freeze Streak Since 1989

While Al Gore and the globalists were chatting up a storm at the World Economic Forum in Davos about cow fart-induced global warming, the eastern half of the U.S. was locked in a da Read more.....

DC Finally Breaks Longest Freeze Streak Since 1989

While Al Gore and the globalists were chatting up a storm at the World Economic Forum in Davos about cow fart-induced global warming, the eastern half of the U.S. was locked in a dangerous cold pattern not seen in decades.

The Washington Post's in-house weather team, known as the Capital Weather Gang, wrote on X that temperatures across the Washington, DC metro area finally edged up above freezing on Tuesday afternoon, ending a 233-hour stretch at or below freezing that began January 23 (or around the time when Gore was spewing global warming propaganda at WEF).

While just shy of ten full days, the nine-day run ties for the fifth-longest such streak on record, dating back to 1872. It also marks only the second time since records moved to National Airport in 1945 that D.C. has seen a freeze of this length, with the previous event occurring in December 1989.

The longest freeze in D.C. on record was a 12-day streak in early 1936 and in February 1895.

REJOICE! It is above freezing in DC. ????

Just barely, but it counts.

The thermometer ticked up to 33 in D.C. at 2 p.m. It's the first time the city has risen above 32 since January 23 at 8 p.m.

That's a streak of 233 hours at or below freezing, now done.
Although we closed� pic.twitter.com/vcuy5Lwmlm
� Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) February 2, 2026

Actual average weather temperatures across the D.C. metro show the deep freeze ended on Tuesday afternoon. However, forecasts show another blast of arctic air is slated for this weekend.

Down south, the National Weather Service in Miami reported that Sunday marked the coldest temperature in 36 years, matching the 1989 record.

2/1 @ 6PM: The coldest temperature in roughly 36 years (1989) was observed in West Palm Beach this morning, breaking the old record low temp for the date.

Miami also set a new record low temp for the date, recording the coldest observed temperature in 16 years (2010). pic.twitter.com/UHg7PTpCD5
� NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) February 1, 2026

What a brutal winter it has been so far for the eastern half of the U.S.

Dangerous cold has stressed natural gas infrastructure, with freeze-offs briefly sending spot prices soaring before they reversed at the start of the week (read here). At the same time, heating demand from households and businesses pushed power prices sharply higher across the Mid-Atlantic, where grids are already under strain from data center expansion and years of grid mismanagement linked to failed green energy policies.

What saved the grid from collapse was the Trump administration's swift action to allow fossil-fuel power plants to operate around the clock. NatGas and coal power generation were the big winners.

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 16:40
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 21:20:00 +0000

321 Quakes Hit San Francisco Bay In A Week � Is The San Andreas Fault Entering A Dangerous New Phase?

321 Quakes Hit San Francisco Bay In A Week � Is The San Andreas Fault Entering A Dangerous New Phase?

Supreme Court Allows New California Congressional Map That Favors Democrats

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 4 allowed California to use its newly redrawn congressional map in the upcoming midterm elections over the objections of Republicans who filed to block it.

The decision in Tangipa v. Newsom came in an unsigned order. No justices dissented. The court did not explain its ruling.

California Republicans had filed an emergency application with the court on Jan. 20, asking the justices to block the map that gives Democrats an electoral advantage.

The new ruling comes after the court on Dec. 4, 2025, upheld a redrawn election map that aimed to increase Republican representation in Texas�s U.S. House delegation.

Republicans had argued that the new California map, which voters authorized in November 2025 by approving Proposition 50, constituted unlawful racial gerrymandering that the federal Voting Rights Act prohibits.

Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor a particular party or constituency.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled that race-based gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution but that redrawing district boundaries to boost partisan fortunes passes constitutional muster.

In a 2�1 ruling delivered on Jan. 14, a three-judge federal panel in California rejected GOP arguments, describing the referendum as a proportional and legal reaction to Republicans undertaking redistricting efforts in Texas.

�We find that Challengers have failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred, and we conclude that there is no basis for issuing a preliminary injunction,� the court said in its written opinion.

The judges said California�s move was a reaction to similar moves undertaken in Texas that President Donald Trump encouraged.

�The stated goal of [the legislation authorizing the referendum] was to counter the actions of Texas and pick up an additional five Democratic seats,� the court wrote.

�The new map drawn by a private consultant, paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and incorporated into Proposition 50, met that goal exactly.�

Republicans currently hold a thin, 218�214 majority over Democrats in the U.S. House. There are 435 seats in the House, but three are currently vacant.

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 15:45
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:20:00 +0000

Lawsuit Challenges Trump's 'Gold Card' Visa Program

Lawsuit Challenges Trump's 'Gold Card' Visa Program

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Read more.....

Lawsuit Challenges Trump's 'Gold Card' Visa Program
Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times,

A national university faculty group is suing to shut down President Donald Trump�s �Gold Card� visa, arguing that the new, expedited pathway to permanent residency for wealthy foreigners is unlawful.

In a lawsuit filed Feb. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and several foreign professionals say the program benefits rich applicants at the expense of �qualified, merit-based� candidates, such as scientists, engineers, and doctors.

The Trump Gold Card program, which formally went live on Dec. 10, 2025, was created by executive order and described by the president as a �green card on steroids.� Individual applicants must pay a nonrefundable $15,000 processing fee to enter the pipeline and, after clearing background checks, make a $1 million �gift� to the government.

Employers can apply for a corporate Gold Card for workers by paying the same $15,000 fee plus a $2 million contribution per employee.

The Gold Card does not have its own visa category. Instead, Trump�s executive order directs agencies to use existing EB-1 �extraordinary ability� and EB-2 �exceptional ability� green card categories and to treat the required payments as evidence that the applicant will substantially benefit the United States.

Both EB-1 and EB-2 categories fall under the employment-based immigration system, which is capped at 140,000 visas annually. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), EB-1 and EB-2 visas account for about 80,000 of those slots.

Because those green cards are limited and already in high demand, the AAUP lawsuit says, opening a fast lane for Gold Card applicants will increase wait times for existing applicants, forcing them to remain longer on temporary visas and disrupting the work they do.

�Rather than reserving those visas for the world�s best and brightest, the Gold Card program converts the visas into revenue-generating commodities sold to those who can pay $1 million or more,� the complaint states.

The plaintiffs argue that the Gold Card conflicts with the Immigration and Nationality Act�s merit-focused criteria for EB-1 and EB-2 visas. They also contend that, at the very least, the administration violated procedural law by skipping the customary notice-and-comment rulemaking before rolling out the program.

Among the individual plaintiffs are a Colombian electronic engineer, a Taiwanese cancer biologist, and a Mexican biomedical scientist. All are seeking EB-1 or EB-2 green cards and say the Gold Card will push them further back in an already backlogged system.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the Gold Card unlawful and halt its continued operation. It names the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, and State, the USCIS, and officials involved in creating and administering the program as defendants.

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment.

While opponents of the Gold Card warn that it will drive away talent, Trump has described the program as a way for companies to retain highly skilled graduates from elite American colleges who might otherwise have to leave the country after finishing their studies.

�They graduate from the top schools,� Trump said last December. �These people want to hire them. Now you�re able to buy a card and you�re able to keep people in the country.�

According to the president, more than $1.3 billion from Gold Cards was generated in the program�s first week.

The administration is also developing a Trump �Platinum Card,� which would require a $5 million payment and allow foreign nationals to spend up to 270 days a year in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on income earned abroad. That program has not yet launched but is already accepting sign-ups for a waiting list.

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 15:20
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:18:00 +0000

Iran FM Says Nuclear Talks With US Still On For Oman, Contradicting Earlier Reports

Iran FM Says Nuclear Talks With US Still On For Oman, Contradicting Earlier Reports

Update(1515ET): And now a reversal, after hours ago Axios reported that talks for Oman were canceled, as the two sides could Read more.....

Iran FM Says Nuclear Talks With US Still On For Oman, Contradicting Earlier Reports

Update(1515ET): And now a reversal, after hours ago Axios reported that talks for Oman were canceled, as the two sides couldn't come to agreement as to the scope of talks. But now Iran's foreign minister has contradicted this report...

IRAN'S ARACHCHI CONFIRMS NUCLEAR TALKS WITH US IN OMAN FRIDAY

Axios itself is now reporting the opposite of its initial headline...

????Plans for U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Oman on Friday are back on, after several Arab and Muslim leaders urgently lobbied the Trump administration on Wednesday afternoon not to follow through on threats to walk away, two U.S. officials told me
????"They asked us to keep the� https://t.co/G4jOH9zJXn
� Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) February 4, 2026

* * *�

Update(1235ET): Oil is spiking on this breaking headline that the White House has nuked the Iran nuclear talks:

THE NUCLEAR TALKS WERE CANCELED ON FRIDAY DUE TO THE IRANIANS' REFUSAL TO ENGAGE IN NON-NUCLEAR ISSUES- AXIOS REPORTER

"The U.S. told�Iran�on Wednesday that it will not agree to�Tehran's demands�to change the location and format of talks planned for Friday, two U.S. officials told Axios."

And more per the breaking Axios report:

The official said that if the Iranians are willing to go back to the original format, the U.S. is ready to meet this week or next week.
"We want to reach a real deal quickly or people will look at other options," the senior official said, alluding to Trump's repeated threats of military action.

Trump officials are reportedly insisting that Iran be stripped of any missile range capable of striking Israel. Israel, meanwhile, would retain its full missile arsenal - including the undeclared nuclear weapons that everyone in the world knows about - capable of hitting Iran.

Also the US wanted to talk about Iran's support to proxies in the region, but for Tehran anything outside the nuclear domain has remained a non-starter.

* * *

Trump had kicked off the week by warning Iran that "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached. "We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones - the biggest and the best - and we have talks going on with Iran and we�ll see how it all works out," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "If we can work something out, that would be great and if we can�t, probably bad things would happen."

"I'd like to see a deal negotiated. I don�t know that that�s going to happen," he added. So far, Iran seems a willing participant, though at this point the reality is it has little to lose by risking such direct engagement.

The only thing which has remained up in the air is the venue. Initially widespread reports said the talks would be hosted by Turkey in Istanbul, but now the sides have their sights set on Oman.

Axios writes that these changes threaten to derail the talks before they even begin. "The Iranians want to move the talks from Istanbul to Oman," the Wednesday report says.

"They also now want to hold them in a bilateral format, only with the U.S., rather than with several Arab and Muslim countries attending as observers," it adds.

But Axios says that the Trump administration has agreed to the request from Tehran to hold the talks in Oman.

The bigger issue is going to be the scope of the talks. Iran is willing to engage on the nuclear issue, but will not negotiate over its ballistic missiles, seen as essential for national security and in any future war with Israel.

"A source with knowledge said that's because the Iranians want to limit the talks to nuclear issues and not discuss things like missiles and proxy groups that are priorities for other countries in the region," states Axios.

On Tuesday Trump had followed with more comments:

"They had a chance to do something a while ago, and it didn�t work out.�And we did �Midnight Hammer�, I don�t think they want that happening again," he said.

This time, Tehran is warning that it is ready to strike back hard if attacked, even if this means all-out war. It says its military forces and ballistic missiles are on high alert, and also that Tel Aviv will be again targeted in the event of US aggression.

NEW: Direct talks not currently on agenda as Iran-US set to resume negotiations in Oman. Qatari PM may join, no word yet on other regional officials. Also potentially joining: Jared Kushner.

Apart from differences over substance, concern that indirect talks won't cut it. pic.twitter.com/1bCWoymsiY
� Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) February 4, 2026

Israel meanwhile is said to be lobbying Washington for regime change in Tehran, but the White House reportedly isn't ready for such a drastic option - also amid reports the Pentagon would need more time to put assets in place.

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 15:18
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Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:00:00 +0000

Major Medical Group Advises Against Gender Procedures On Children

Major Medical Group Advises Against Gender Procedures On Children

The admonition to "first, do no harm" is an ancient cornerstone of medical ethics. With that in mind, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons broke ranks wit Read more.....

Major Medical Group Advises Against Gender Procedures On Children
The admonition to "first, do no harm" is an ancient cornerstone of medical ethics. With that in mind, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons broke ranks with other medical organizations on Tuesday, recommending that member physicians refrain from performing gender transition surgeries on anyone under age 19. The major milestone in Western society's nascent recovery from gender-transition madness follows a landmark courtroom victory for a young woman whose breasts were removed at age 16, and the AMA has already signaled it will follow the ASPS's lead.��

The ASPS's�position statement�uses pointed language that echoes the profound concerns that have long been raised by gender-transition skeptics:�

"When uncertainty concerns not just the magnitude of benefit but the existence of benefit in and of itself, and when potential harms are irreversible and identity-defining, the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence require a more precautionary approach."�

Fox Varian was awarded $2 million in damages in a case against doctors who guided her to a double-mastectomy at age 16 (IMDb)�

The group's adoption of a new philosophy followed a review of research about the long-term outcomes for transitioned youngsters.�"There�s no data to suggest that you can predict who will benefit from surgery and who will have a negative outcome,� former ASPS president Scot Bradley Glasberg told the�New York Times. �That requires taking the side of caution, which means deferring or postponing these surgeries until the age of 19.�

The overwhelming majority of gender-altering surgeries performed on minors are mastectomies. Last week, a New York jury found�a psychologist and a surgeon liable for malpractice�after they convinced a 16-year-old girl to lop off her breasts.�It was the first medical malpractice case involving a de-transitioner to reach a verdict. That 16-year-old is now 22 and identifies as a woman. She also now identifies as a millionaire, after being awarded $2 million in damages,�comprising $1.6 million for past and future pain and suffering, and $400,000 for future medical expenses.

During the proceedings, the victim, Fox Varian, said she had the sense she'd made a colossal error as soon as she saw the scars on her chest.�"I immediately had a thought that this was wrong, and it couldn�t be true," she said, adding that the surgery left her with�'searing hot' nerve pain."�There was also emotional damage. "Shame. I felt shame. It�s hard to face that you are disfigured for life."

Megyn Kelly @megynkelly drops an absolute truth bomb on Bill Maher and his liberal audience

"It's the issue of our time with both respect to children and women's rights" ??pic.twitter.com/A24RBpkw1l
� Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 26, 2024

In its statement, ASPS pointed to Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, who've all updated their guidance to recommend against endocrine and surgical interventions for minors. The plastic-surgeon group became the first major US medical organization�to counsel against gender-morphing procedures for children.

A similar announcement by the American Medical Association may be imminent. Asked on Tuesday if the powerful group would update its stance, the AMA told National Review that, because �the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement . . . the AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.�

More are sure to follow, in light of growing state-level regulatory restrictions and last week's landmark liability ruling -- doubtless the first of many that will hammer overly-eager doctors, psychologists and counselors for their malpractice.��Knowing now that a jury will feel comfortable holding doctors accountable for this is something that I think every doctor should take seriously," Adam Deutch, the lawyer who represented Varian in the New York case, told the New York Post. (When will we see the first case filed by a child against their parents?)

Public opinion will also play a part, and opposition to gender-transitioning children is mounting among the public. A February 2025 Pew Research poll found that 56% of Americans favor a ban on gender-transitions for minors, with only 26% opposing a ban, and 17% unsure. As more horror stories come to light via court cases, we expect many of those undecided people will come off the fence and land on the side of protecting children from irreversible harms springing from decisions driven by fleeting adolescent angst.�

Tyler Durden Wed, 02/04/2026 - 15:00
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