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Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:45:00 +0000 Wildberries - Russia's Amazon - Has Seen Four Major Hubs Attacked In Quick Succession
Wildberries - Russia's Amazon - Has Seen Four Major Hubs Attacked In Quick Succession
Wildberries, which is widely referenced as 'Russia's Amazon', has seen four of its top ten distribution hubs attacked by Ukrainian long-ra
Read more.....
Wildberries - Russia's Amazon - Has Seen Four Major Hubs Attacked In Quick Succession
Wildberries, which is widely referenced as 'Russia's Amazon', has seen four of its top ten distribution hubs attacked by Ukrainian long-range drones in only a matter of days, potentially putting their business operations in doubt.
Stunning footage is widely circulating Wednesday of some of the latest attacks, which came overnight. A large fire broke out in the outskirts of Krasnodar in southern Russia at a sprawling Wildberries warehouse.
Image via Exilenova+ Regional media has cited several separate fires in the area, before which witnesses reported hearing some 20 to 30 explosions across the city and its outskirts.
Another key logistics hub for Wildberries, which is far and away the country's biggest online retailer, was also hit in the Stavropol region overnight, resulting in the urgent evacuation of employees.
Four days prior, the company's warehouses in central Russia were struck , which killed eight people . In the face of the Krelmin calling the attacks acts of terrorism and war crimes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that the hubs were "involved in providing the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment and other gear."
Massive fire rages in Krasnodar, Russia overnight:
The regional anti-Kremlin publication Meduza has tallied the size of the huge hubs hit and damaged in the following :
The Ukrainian military’s strike hit two Wildberries warehouses: one in Elektrostal, outside Moscow — a 250,000-square-meter (2.7-million-square-foot) facility and one of the company’s largest logistics centers — and another in Kotovsk, in the Tambov region, a 108,000-square-meter (1.2-million-square-foot) warehouse that opened only last year.
Experts estimate the Elektrostal and Kotovsk warehouses accounted for 6.5% to 9% of Wildberries’ total warehouse space . Losing them won’t paralyze the marketplace’s operations, though it could strain its logistics network . Customers are unlikely to see significantly longer delivery times, since Wildberries operates numerous sorting centers that let it reroute shipments quickly.
And additionally of note:
Wildberries isn’t formally required to compensate sellers for the damage. On July 7 — 11 days before the attack — the company changed its contract terms with sellers, exempting itself from liability for “force majeure circumstances,” a category that now includes drone attacks .
The Kremlin will no doubt take the ongoing threat and targeting of Wildberries' hubs very seriously. Reuters has reviewed that "Together with smaller rivals, Wildberries and Ozon sell goods and services worth the equivalent of 8.5% of Russia's gross domestic product . They provide jobs for 4 million people, or more than 5% of the country's workforce."
"The firms are central to the Kremlin's plans to reinvigorate growth in ?a stagnating, war-focused economy ," Reuters continues. "President Vladimir Putin's top man on the economy, Maxim Oreshkin, has been personally tasked with overseeing the sector."
Russia has in turn also been striking some major manufacturing centers inside Ukraine, claiming that these sites are have dual civilian-military purposes, such as for drone or aircraft component production.
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 05:45 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000 What Is The UK Government So Afraid Of?
What Is The UK Government So Afraid Of?
What Is The UK Government So Afraid Of?
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News ,
The British government is in court to stop the public seeing the full picture of migrant crime rates.
After the Information Commissioner ordered the Ministry of Justice to release nationality-linked conviction data from 2018 to 2024, officials have launched an appeal, claiming it risks identifying offenders and costs too much.
Campaigners say the real fear is what the numbers will show about open-border policies that have left British streets, transport and communities less safe.
The Centre for Migration Control submitted the Freedom of Information request that triggered the ruling. The MoJ rejected both the identification and cost arguments.
Director of Research Robert Bates called the legal fight "astonishing" and said it raises serious questions about what the government is hiding.
Reform UK's Robert Jenrick put it bluntly: "The cover-up continues. Successive Tory and Labour justice secretaries have refused to publish this basic information. A Reform government led by Nigel Farage would immediately blow the lid on what's really happening and begin deporting these dangerous criminals."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman insisted there is no cover-up but declined further comment while proceedings continue.
Partial data already released shows foreign nationals accounted for 14.1 per cent of sex offence convictions in 2025. That figure excludes naturalised British citizens and lacks breakdowns for rape, grooming or child sexual abuse.
Earlier analysis comparing prison rolls to census figures found foreigners overall 27 per cent more likely to be imprisoned than British citizens.
Albanians recorded an imprisonment rate of 232.33 per 10,000 people against 14 for British citizens. Kosovars, Vietnamese, Algerians, Jamaicans, Eritreans, Iraqis and Somalis all sat well above the British baseline. Some groups, including Germans, Italians and Indians, sat below it.
Those patterns match the detailed pictures already forced into the open through earlier FOI work.
Foreign nationals made up 79 per cent of theft arrests on British trains in 2025, 40 per cent of drug offence arrests, 37 per cent of sexual offence arrests and 36 per cent of violent crime arrests.
They accounted for nearly 3,700 of the 9,771 total arrests recorded by British Transport Police that year.
Across England and Wales, foreign nationals were arrested 172,889 times in the year ending March 2025 - one every 183 seconds - including 51,212 for violence and 11,264 for sexual offences.
Separate figures showed foreign nationals 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for sex crimes than British citizens, with an arrest rate of nearly 165 per 100,000 against 48 per 100,000 for Britons.
They formed 26.1 per cent of sexual offence arrests despite comprising around 9 per cent of the population.
In the City of London the foreign share of sex crime arrests reached 66.9 per cent; in Derbyshire it hit 44.8 per cent. Nationalities with the highest rates included Afghans, Iraqis, Algerians and Somalis.
The two-tier reality of enforcement has also become impossible to ignore. An Ethiopian small-boat arrival housed in an Epping asylum hotel sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman who tried to help him.
He received a 12-month sentence. Local residents who protested the hotel and the offender later received longer jail terms.
One father of two was given two years and nine months for violent disorder after adopting what a judge called a "fighting or boxing stance."
Police Scotland has gone further, refusing FOI requests for aggregated data on call-outs, crimes and arrests at five asylum hotels.
Officers cited fears that releasing the figures would heighten community tensions and put people at risk of physical harm. The force acknowledged the hotels house asylum seekers and refugees yet argued that numbers could change over time and that incidents might be linked to protests rather than residents.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr called the refusal another example of public bodies following an SNP culture of secrecy.
The same pattern repeats across Europe. In Spain a CEU-CEFAS study found foreigners commit five times more rapes and four times more murders per capita than Spanish citizens.
They make up 31 per cent of the prison population. In Catalonia 91 per cent of convicted rapists are migrants, who form only 17 per cent of the population.
Penetrative rape cases rose 143 per cent between 2019 and 2024. Attempted murders nearly doubled over a similar period. Illegal property occupations saw foreigners accounting for 51.8 per cent of arrests.
Official Spanish figures show rape crimes tripled from 1,878 cases in 2019 to 5,206 in 2024 - an average of 14 rapes per day. Catalonia, Madrid and Andalusia led the surge. Sixty-four per cent of sexual assault and rape inmates are foreign nationals.
Eurostat data confirmed the continental scale: rape reports in Spain surged 322 per cent over the last decade, against an EU average rise of 150 per cent.
EU-wide sexual violence cases exceeded 250,000 in 2024, with nearly 100,000 rapes. Foreigners in Spain remain over-represented in serious crime even as the native population ages.
In France left-wing MPs, including Greens, tabled an amendment demanding public media reduce coverage of crime stories. They cited the murders of 13-year-old Lola and of Thomas in Crépol as examples of "political exploitation" by the right.
Marine Le Pen called the move a hallmark of totalitarian ideology that threatens the public's right to know. French statistics already show foreigners responsible for 69 per cent of violence and sexual crimes on public transport, half of all crimes in Paris and 55 per cent in Marseille.
Germany's 2025 police crime statistics show foreigners, 15 per cent of the population, responsible for 41 per cent of violent crimes and 38 per cent of murders.
They account for 39.1 per cent of serious sexual offences. Rape has risen 72 per cent since 2018. Afghans are 14 times more likely than Germans to commit sexual offences; Syrians are 11 times more likely to commit violence.
Knife crime runs at 29,000 incidents a year. In North Rhine-Westphalia foreigners commit 48 per cent of robberies.
Reported rapes in Germany reached nearly 14,000 in 2025, a 9 per cent rise on the previous year and a 72 per cent jump since 2018. Non-German nationals formed around 41 per cent of suspects for crimes against sexual self-determination.
In some states the over-representation reaches three to four times their population share. Hesse's Interior Minister Roman Poseck noted that perpetrators with a migration background are overrepresented and that some arrive with "a completely wrong understanding of roles" regarding women's rights.
Sweden Democrats MEP Charlie Weimers forced the European Parliament to confront the pattern after a Swedish police officer was beaten to death at a Copenhagen fan zone and a Gambian migrant in Milan stabbed a man 20 times "for fun."
Weimers described the attacks as part of a broader wave undermining ordinary Europeans' safety. Swedish Social Democrats voted against even holding the debate.
The refusal to publish the data sits against a starker warning delivered inside the same parliament.
At a conference titled "Civil War: Europe at Risk?", Professor David Betz of King's College London told MEPs that "Europe is on track for civil war."
Marion Maréchal warned that cultural homogeneity - the main basis of trust between citizens - is eroding, producing societies of violence and mistrust.
A report mapped up to a thousand no-go zones across the continent. Betz described the trajectory as Balkanisation that could extinguish coherent national identities and lead to large-scale conflict resembling the Troubles or the Years of Lead, only on a continental scale.
British officials still claim the full nationality breakdown is too expensive or too risky to release. The Information Commissioner already rejected those arguments.
Campaigners note that partial data and FOI-driven releases have already painted a consistent picture: certain nationalities drive disproportionate shares of theft, violence and sexual crime, while native protesters face longer sentences than the offenders who provoked them.
Across Spain, France and Germany the same disparities appear, often followed by official efforts to limit public discussion rather than confront the numbers.
The legal battle is therefore not about administrative cost. It is about whether British voters are allowed to see the consequences of the migration policies successive governments have pursued.
Reform UK has pledged to publish the data and begin deportations. Until then, the Ministry of Justice will keep fighting in the courts to keep the full ledger closed.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch . Follow us on X @ModernityNews .
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 05:00 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:15:00 +0000 Gay Cruise Debacle Proves Liberals Are Deluded About Alliance With Muslims
Gay Cruise Debacle Proves Liberals Are Deluded About Alliance With Muslims
In a world where "Queers for Palestine" is a real thing and a Muslim communist with an LGBT cabinet is the mayor of the largest city in the US, the far-left
Read more.....
Gay Cruise Debacle Proves Liberals Are Deluded About Alliance With Muslims
In a world where "Queers for Palestine" is a real thing and a Muslim communist with an LGBT cabinet is the mayor of the largest city in the US, the far-left vision of total intersectional multiculturalism seems to be in reach. The only people not welcome in this new world order would be straight, white Christian conservatives and anyone else who disagrees with wokeness.
The problem is, intersectionality requires total submission to the idea that all behaviors are permissible and morality is relative. Progressives and Muslims might agree on the idea of mass immigration and the deconstruction of the west, but they don't really agree on anything else.
The political left has run into this embarrassing quandary on a number of occasions with hilarious results. For example, third world migrants courted the empathy of liberal voters in Hamtramck, Michigan, but when the Muslims took over the local government, the first thing they did was ban the display of LGBT symbols and pride flags on city owned property. Leftists were stunned by the decision.
By extension, Muslims have learned to feign support for progressive ideology to gain entry into the west, but in Islamic countries, lefties are not welcome.
In recent news, a "gay cruise" carrying over 2000 limp-wrist passengers set sail for Turkey, only to be denied entry at the port town of Kusadasi. Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady set sail from Athens, Greece, on the 5th of July for what was billed as “an epic all-gay voyage” over 10 days. The cruise is run by Atlantis, a US company that puts on events and vacations for LGBT people
The Turkish government cited "moral values" as the reason for the rejection. The cruise then diverted to Egypt where it was once again denied at the port of Alexandria.
VIDEO
Passengers and entertainers on the cruise say they are shocked by the refusals , indicating a level of delusion that is impressive, even in our modern era. Patti LuPone, a 77-year-old Broadway singer performing on the ship, took to Instagram to share her dismay regarding the news.
“The Atlantis cruise I am performing on next week has been banned from entering Turkey,” she wrote. “A ship – a magnificent ship – full of gay men. And me. Denied entry to Turkey simply because of who is on board....I am furious, but I am sailing, as the ship will make other ports of call. I am ready to perform for all the wonderful men on this Atlantis cruise, who deserve so much better than this.”
Turkey banned Pride marches back in 2015. Egypt has been prosecuting people under morality laws for over a decade. It is not uncommon for gay people to be executed in Islamic countries, by government authorities or angry mobs in the streets in "honor killings". While Turkey has not banned homosexuality, it is greatly frowned upon in the national culture.
Public displays of affection by gays can and do lead to violence in Turkey and Egypt.
The assumption among western progressives is that all minority groups fall under their umbrella.
They think because they advocate for the open immigration of third worlders this means that third worlders will advocate for leftist ideals.
This is simply not so, and an orgy ship loaded with dudes in pink speedos just found out that a big chunk of the world does not see things the way they do.
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 04:15 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:30:00 +0000 The Digital Euro's New Chapter
The Digital Euro's New Chapter
The Digital Euro's New Chapter
Authored by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes via the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE),
For years, the digital euro was presented by the European Central Bank (ECB) merely as a modern and practical alternative to banknotes and coins. It has now been openly acknowledged that the project is intended to respond to the dominance of American payment companies. Visa and Mastercard process 61 percent of card payments in the euro area, according to the ECB’s own data, and it is this dependence that Brussels intends to break.
On June 23, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) approved its negotiating position on the digital euro legislative package by 43 votes to 14. Although this approval does not constitute the final law, a final agreement with the Council is expected by the end of 2026, with implementation projected to begin only from 2029 onward.
The project, which has historically been justified by the ECB as merely a matter of convenience compared with cash, was this time presented in a European Parliament statement as a genuinely European payment option , in an attempt to counter the dominance of major American payment companies, in what could represent yet another escalation of tensions in transatlantic relations. Visa and Mastercard’s dominance of cross-border transactions in Europe generates billions of euros in fees; a significant reduction in that dominance would weaken the dollar, represent an economic loss for these American companies, and threaten one of Washington’s soft-power tools. Whatever the outcome of this dispute between blocs, it is the European citizen who first bears the cost of the response chosen by Brussels.
This development reflects the increasingly protectionist approach that the European Union has adopted in the technological sphere, as seen with the Digital Markets Act and the recent Tech Sovereignty Package , making open competition and private innovation more difficult. Under the pretext of defending European sovereignty, Brussels has chosen to create centralized public infrastructures. But money is not infrastructure. It is the instrument through which the state and the citizen negotiate, every day, the boundaries of individual freedom. That is why, since the beginning of discussions on the digital euro, a particularly dangerous direction of travel has been emerging.
According to the negotiating position that has now been approved, it will not be citizens, but rather the European Commission, acting on a recommendation from the ECB, that will determine the maximum amount of digital euros each person may hold, likely around €3,000 (just under $3,500) with periodic reviews.
In addition, companies will not be allowed to maintain digital euro balances for more than 24 hours , except for accumulating received payments, which must be automatically transferred after that period.
This prevents businesses from using the digital euro as a treasury management tool, a liquidity reserve, or for routine payments such as suppliers and payroll.
Through this rule, Brussels strengthens centralized state control and significantly reduces the usefulness of the digital euro for the business sector. Companies lose freedom and options.
Holding limits and restrictions imposed on businesses, while shocking to advocates of freedom, are not new. These ideas have been embedded in the digital euro project since its initial stages. In the legislative proposal presented by the European Commission in 2023, the ECB and Brussels explicitly acknowledged that limits would be imposed on the amount of digital euros each citizen could hold, under the familiar justification of “protection,” in this case, protecting financial stability and preventing deposit flight from commercial banks. The novelty, therefore, does not lie in the principle but in its implementation. What was in 2023 an open possibility has now become a concrete decision, clearly made without regard for the wishes of citizens themselves.
These conditions follow the same logic of centralized control found in China’s digital currency, the digital yuan (e-CNY). In the Chinese system, there is also the possibility of obtaining higher limits in exchange for surrendering more personal data and accepting less privacy , a model of “tiered privacy” in which freedom is always sacrificed and only the degree of submission to the state remains open to choice. Thus, in order to reduce dependence on American payment companies in the name of “European sovereignty,” instead of strengthening private competition and liberalizing the market, Europe is importing the model of state control that China has refined.
Although the ECB publicly denies that the digital euro will be a programmable currency, these kinds of technological and centralized solutions always leave open the possibility that conditional functionalities may be built upon their architecture. Money can be made to expire, be conditioned, or be tracked, transforming it into a public-policy instrument far more powerful than cash has ever been. To combat an alleged external dependence on North America, Europe is creating an even more dangerous internal dependence, one in which money ceases to be an instrument of individual freedom and open markets, and instead becomes a tool of control and geopolitical rivalry.
In the end, the digital euro does not liberate Europe, modernize it, or make payments more convenient. It merely changes who holds control, shifting it from American private companies to European public authorities, and strengthens that control in the process.
At its core, this project reveals a profound civilizational choice: money ceases to belong primarily to individuals, as the state assumes the power to define the limits of financial freedom.
Brussels not only threatens the freedom of its citizens, but also risks escalating transatlantic tensions. A direct challenge to the dominance of U.S. payment giants and the dollar’s global infrastructure is unlikely to be ignored passively in Washington.
The more money is transformed into an instrument of public policy and geopolitical rivalry, the smaller the space becomes for individual freedom and open markets.
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 03:30 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 06:45:00 +0000 Bulgaria Draws Iranian Warning Over Hosting US Military Tanker Aircraft
Bulgaria Draws Iranian Warning Over Hosting US Military Tanker Aircraft
Bulgaria has for many years during the so-called Global War on Terror been a major Eastern European hub for US and Western weapons shipments as well as
Read more.....
Bulgaria Draws Iranian Warning Over Hosting US Military Tanker Aircraft
Bulgaria has for many years during the so-called Global War on Terror been a major Eastern European hub for US and Western weapons shipments as well as military aircraft transfers related to the Middle West.
But now Iran is paying close attention, putting the Bulgarian government on notice over a planned temporary deployment of up to eight American refueling aircraft .
USAF file image The large military planes are set to be housed at Bezmer Air Base in the NATO country's southeast. It is one of the few joint bases at which US forces have a lot of freedom of operation.
The request from Washington is being framed as a way to relieve pressure on Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv , where dozens of parked refueling tankers have disrupted normal commercial flight operations.
Additionally, it comes after a number of EU allies, especially Italy and Spain, have blocked US Air Force planes that are engaged in any way in Operation Epic Fury.
On Wednesday, the Bulgarian parliament voted to allow the US refueling planes to be based in the country :
Bulgaria’s parliament votes to allow the United States to base refueling planes in the country, as Donald Trump threatens to further escalate military attacks on Iran.
Washington made the request Friday, and parliament approved it with 136 votes in favor, 13 against and two abstentions.
Bulgaria will authorize the deployment of up to eight KC-135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 military personnel, tasked with supporting operations in the Middle East . They will be stationed at Bezmer Air Base in the southeast, from July 24 to October 1, 2026.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has warned against Bulgaria becoming complicit in the US war. Tehran described that Bulgaria too will now be a participant in "aggression and war crimes." Also this via Tasnim --
Iran Deputy FM Gharibabadi says "European governments need to be aware that providing bases and territory to the aggressor will put them among the aggressors ."
Back in April, when there were signs of moving American planes onto Bulgarian soil, Tehran sent Sofia a diplomatic note and protest cautioning against allowing this.
US European Command has meanwhile warned it is ready to respond if Iran threatens any kind of aggression or retaliation on Bulgaria.
Wiki Commons "The United States maintains regional defensive capabilities across NATO's eastern flank , including in Bulgaria , and works closely with the Bulgarian government and our allies and partners throughout the broader region," the US command said. "We remain vigilant and prepared to counter any potential threats."
Bulgaria itself has downplayed that these US planes will have a direct role in aggression against Iran, but it's hard to see what say the Bulgarian government would have in how the US Air Force uses its planes.
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 02:45 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Swedish Police Veteran Warns Islamization Is Replacing Gang Violence As Country's Defining Threat
Swedish Police Veteran Warns Islamization Is Replacing Gang Violence As Country's Defining Threat
Swedish Police Veteran Warns Islamization Is Replacing Gang Violence As Country's Defining Threat
Via Remix News,
A veteran Swedish police officer says tougher criminal laws have sharply improved security in Uppsala, but warns that Islamization and parallel social structures now pose a deeper long-term threat.
Maria Rosander, a police officer of 17 years and Sweden Democrat group leader in Uppsala, told Samnytt that conditions for officers had changed dramatically since shootings and explosions reached crisis levels.
“From a police point of view, it’s like night and day,” she said.
Rosander credited tougher sentences, expanded surveillance, better cooperation between police regions, and greater use of covert measures. Suspected young gang recruits can now be intercepted before carrying out attacks, she said.
The improvement showed that political decisions could reverse criminal decline, but it still has a long way to go. “We have come to the conclusion that it is not profitable to be a criminal,” Rosander said.
However, the police chief suggested that while legislation to tackle gang violence was starting to produce the desired effect, religious segregation and increased Islamization across Swedish society remain a huge problem.
“Islamization is a contributing factor to what we have seen in society. I am absolutely convinced of that,”
Rosander described the mosque in Uppsala as a symbol of segregation, honor-based oppression and unequal treatment of men and women. She said female officers were often ignored in favor of male colleagues and claimed girls in heavily segregated areas were kept away from public life.
“We are letting Islamization creep in to the point where we will not be able to say no,” she said. “Society is being eaten from within.”
Rosander called for a halt to new mosque construction, restrictions on the niqab and burqa in public, and a ban on children wearing Islamic veils.
She also rejected the language of integration. “I think we should talk about assimilation,”
Swedish society, Rosander argued, should not continually adapt to newcomers who maintain separate cultural and social systems. She criticized multilingual municipal information, saying it removed incentives to learn Swedish.
Rosander further claimed that parallel structures were facilitating welfare abuse, false address registration, and informal financial transfers through religious networks.
She described couples registering at separate addresses while remaining married under Islamic law, allowing them to claim additional housing and benefits.
“The woman receives housing allowance, extra allowance and an apartment for her children,” she said. “The man also receives an apartment that he rents out illegally.”
Rosander also warned that foreign criminal gang networks were deeply established in Uppsala’s vulnerable districts. “We absolutely have gang structures in our society,” she said.
She said extended families repeatedly appeared in criminal investigations and described reports of business owners being forced to pay protection money.
“It’s classic mafia,” she said. “I see clan and mafia as basically the same thing.”
“It’s not the Swedes. These are foreign groups that have connections to organized crime and networks,” Rosander added.
“It is not Swedish youth who commit these crimes.”
Rosander called for stricter background checks for sensitive public-sector positions, arguing that clan loyalty could override loyalty to Swedish institutions.
She also criticized Uppsala Municipality for allegedly failing to scrutinize the foreign funding of Muslim associations and mosque projects.
“If you can’t account for 100 percent where the money comes from, it should never be opened,” she said.
Rosander supports an active remigration policy and wants Uppsala to establish a municipal unit focused on illegal residence, improper settlement, and misuse of public housing.
“For me, remigration is necessary,”
She said Sweden’s success in reducing crime proved that its cultural decline could be reversed, but only if politicians were willing to confront uncomfortable realities.
“As a Swede, I should not have to change my life and start deviating from things that we in Sweden have always done just to suit someone else,” she said.
Read the full interview here .
Read more here...
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 02:00 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 03:25:00 +0000 Washington Can't Afford To Let The US Lose The Open-Source AI War
Washington Can't Afford To Let The US Lose The Open-Source AI War
Washington Can't Afford To Let The US Lose The Open-Source AI War
Authored by Julio Rivera via American Greatness ,
President Trump was right about China.
Long before it became conventional wisdom in Washington, he recognized that America wasn't simply competing with another trading partner. China was executing a long-term strategy to dominate the industries that would define the 21st century. From manufacturing and telecommunications to semiconductors and artificial intelligence, Beijing understood that technological leadership translates directly into economic and geopolitical power.
Artificial intelligence is the next front in that competition, and the United States cannot afford to get it wrong. The greatest danger isn't that China builds a better AI model. It's that China builds the AI platform the rest of the world decides to use. Those are two very different contests.
Recent research suggests Beijing has chosen a strategy designed for long-term dominance rather than short-term profits. A June 2026 analysis by FourthWeb concluded that "Chinese open source AI models have quietly surpassed their American competitors" on several important benchmarks while "U.S. companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have gone increasingly proprietary." Another report, China's Open Source Strategy and Its Global Implications , found that Chinese firms, including Alibaba and DeepSeek, are making "a huge bet on open source," releasing state-of-the-art AI models for anyone to use, improve, and build upon.
That isn't generosity. It's geopolitical strategy. When Alibaba released its Qwen models, developers didn't simply download them. They began creating new products, businesses, and applications on top of them. Today there are more than 180,000 derivative versions in 119 languages . Every one of those projects pulls more developers, companies, and institutions into China's technological ecosystem.
Technology works a lot like language. The language everyone learns eventually becomes the language everyone speaks. The operating system everyone builds on becomes the operating system that dominates the market. The AI platform developers choose today will influence which country sets the standards tomorrow.
China understands that better than many people on Capitol Hill and in Silicon Valley. Some of America's leading AI companies have taken the opposite approach. Rather than encouraging widespread adoption, they are moving toward increasingly closed systems that maximize subscription revenue and centralized control. That may be good for quarterly earnings, but it limits how quickly American technology spreads throughout the global economy.
FourthWeb captured the contrast in one sentence: "Chinese open models winning on capability, U.S. closed models winning on revenue."
Lawmakers need to understand that Silicon Valley revenue matters, but winning matters more . History shows that the cheapest and easiest technology often becomes the global standard. Businesses rarely choose the most expensive option simply because it's American. They choose the platform that is flexible, affordable, and easy to integrate into existing operations.
Open-source AI gives startups, manufacturers, hospitals, and even allied governments the ability to deploy powerful models on their own infrastructure while keeping sensitive information in-house. They aren't forced to send proprietary data through someone else's servers or commit to increasingly expensive licensing agreements.
Some organizations have reportedly reduced AI deployment costs by as much as two-thirds by using open models such as Alibaba's Qwen. That's the kind of economic advantage businesses notice.
If the most affordable, adaptable AI platform in the world is Chinese, companies around the globe will build on Chinese technology. Once that happens, China gains something far more valuable than another software customer. It gains influence over the next generation of digital infrastructure.
America shouldn't hand Beijing that opportunity.
Closed AI models create another strategic problem. They concentrate technological power inside a small number of corporations. If America's AI future depends on two or three dominant companies, innovation inevitably narrows. Smaller firms struggle to compete. Universities face higher barriers to experimentation. Manufacturers become customers instead of innovators. Entrepreneurs spend more time paying licensing fees than building new products.
That isn't how America became the world's technology leader. Our greatest strength has always been broad participation. We led the personal computer revolution because thousands of companies competed. We led the internet revolution because innovators could build without asking permission. America has always won by expanding opportunity, not restricting it.
Artificial intelligence should be no different.
Anthropic has made no secret of its preference for closed AI models. The company argues that limiting access reduces the risks of misuse, cybercrime, and disinformation. Those concerns deserve serious consideration. Advanced AI carries real risks, and policymakers should not dismiss them.
But those safety concerns also align with a business model built around proprietary technology, recurring subscriptions, and centralized control.
Policymakers should recognize that what serves a company's commercial interests does not always serve America's strategic interests. A closed ecosystem may maximize revenue for a handful of firms, but it also limits the number of developers, startups, manufacturers, and researchers who can build on American technology. At a time when China is encouraging global adoption of its open-source models, that tradeoff deserves far more attention than it has received.
There is also a practical consideration. Anthropic's Claude models have become increasingly expensive to deploy at scale. Large corporations may be able to absorb those costs, but many startups, universities, and midsize businesses cannot. High prices inevitably slow adoption, and adoption is what ultimately determines which technological ecosystem becomes the global standard.
The country whose AI is used by the greatest number of builders - not simply the one with the most valuable AI company - will enjoy the greatest long-term strategic advantage.
President Trump correctly challenged the assumption that America could outsource strategic industries without consequences. Artificial intelligence deserves the same level of urgency.
Capitol Hill shouldn't measure success by the market capitalization of a handful of AI companies. It should measure success by how many American businesses build on American technology, how many universities teach it, how many entrepreneurs launch companies with it, and how many allies choose American AI over Chinese alternatives.
The AI race won't be won by whichever company reports the strongest quarterly earnings. It will be won by whichever country creates the largest community of innovators. China has already made its choice. America should make its own before the rest of the world makes it for us .
Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, cybersecurity researcher, founder of ItFunk.org and ReactionaryTimes.com, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, focused on cybersecurity and politics, has appeared in major publications around the world.
Tyler Durden Wed, 07/22/2026 - 23:25 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 03:00:00 +0000 Lavrov To Challenge Germany's Bid For French Nuclear Shield In Rubio Talks
Lavrov To Challenge Germany's Bid For French Nuclear Shield In Rubio Talks
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to hold an important, rare meeting on Thursday to address shaky bil
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Lavrov To Challenge Germany's Bid For French Nuclear Shield In Rubio Talks
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to hold an important, rare meeting on Thursday to address shaky bilateral relations in the context of the Ukraine war, as well as recent nuclear rhetoric out of European NATO countries.
The Kremlin is especially alarmed at the German government's intent to gain access to nuclear weapons , based on new defense agreements with France and its 'nuclear umbrella'. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz unveiled late last week: "Alongside this work on a shared doctrine, German conventional forces will this year take part in a nuclear exercise of the French military ."
The Russian FM has newly responded just the day prior to the Rubio meeting: "And this is truly alarming, considering that, for example, the US nuclear program was largely created by people who fled Germany and were taken there . That memory does not fade ."
via Associated Press Lavrov in the remarks to the press previewing the top level dialogue warned that ongoing US aggression in places like Iran and the Middle East could push an array of non-nuclear sakes to quickly seek atomic weapons, on fears of attack from Washington or its allies.
The meeting with Rubio will be "useful in any case" Lavrov stated, underscoring that Moscow has many open, pressing questions for the Trump administration concerning its current policies. "It's better to ask questions directly and receive answers," Lavrov noted.
Lavrov seized on some of President Trump's recent comments on forging peace in Ukraine, at a moment the air war has clearly been ramping up, especially given that Ukrainian drone strikes have increasingly penetrated into the Moscow region. "Regarding Trump's prediction of an imminent settlement, I will ask Marco Rubio tomorrow," Lavrov said according to TASS.
He also said that Russia continues to adhere to principles put forward at the Putin-Trump Alaska summit in Anchorage, in August 2025. "We assume that, at least for now, our American colleagues have not revoked their own proposals, which were voiced in Anchorage and which are now well known to everyone," Lavrov stated.
But he also previewed that he'll raise the issue of deepening US involvement with Ukrainian intelligence and the military, per TASS:
The US is not simply assisting, but directly participating in, the targeting of Ukrainian weapons at facilities in Russia, including civilian ones:
"But of all people, the Americans, through arms supplies funded by the European Union and through the provision of intelligence - the Starlink system and much more - are not simply assisting, but directly participating in the targeting of Ukrainian weapons at facilities, including civilian ones, on Russian territory ."
Concerning the ongoing tit-for-tat attacks on Black Sea shipping, as well as the question of a safe energy corridor, the top Russian diplomat said, "When asked about the Black Sea Initiative, the answer is short: there were no proposals ."
Lavrov also said to reporters that recent claims out of Eastern European and Baltic leaders that Russia is preparing some kind of attack or sabotage inside the EU is a fabrication and born out of sensationalism and propaganda.
"Vladimir Putin was asked about the EU's preparations for war, and he very clearly answered that we have no intention of attacking anyone, but if they, having once again gathered all of Europe under certain banners, try to attack us, it will no longer be a conventional war. It will be a different kind of war," Lavrov warned
Lavrov also highlighted the persisting Iran conflict in the pre-Rubio meeting remarks, saying it's hard to speculate, but "I have the feeling that continuing hostilities is not in the interests of either the United States or Iran."
Russia wants the Hormuz crisis to quickly end, Lavrov said. He also batted down allegations that Russia is weaponizing the Iranian side and helping fuel the war, saying this is "embarrassing to hear" and that ultimately "We want this to stop. It affects the global economy, and Russia is part of the global economy."
Currently, the Russian military seems bent on 'punishing' Ukraine for its long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory, which has hit oil depots and key energy sites in particular. This has included huge ballistic missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital. These salvos have been getting bigger and bigger of late.
Tyler Durden Wed, 07/22/2026 - 23:00 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 02:35:00 +0000 The Great Menopause Grift
The Great Menopause Grift
The Great Menopause Grift
Authored by Alan Cassels via The Brownstone Institute ,
Well, well, look here. In its June 2026 update the venerated OED or Oxford English Dictionary, finally added the 'new' word, fearmonging . It explains fearmongering as "the action or an act of spreading fear or alarm among the public, esp. by exaggerating the dangers associated with a political, social, or economic issue; alarmism."
Thank goodness, the dictionary has caught up to our society's most pernicious habit; that is, using fear to sell anything. Especially when it comes to our health.
Here we find the most destructive aspect of fearmongering, ie: trying to convince normal, healthy people we are "abnormal" or "sick," and fundamentally changing the way we think about ourselves. The marketing of fear often drives people to their doctors, and to the inevitable prescription pad, with predictable results: people getting unnecessary, sometimes harmful drugs for natural, normal phases of life.
The grift goes wide and deep. Many influencers and physician-educators have financial ties through sponsored content or brand partnerships, sometimes pushing lines of supplements, telehealth services, books, or their appearances on the speaking circuit. Sadly, information about who funds them to say what they say is not always straightforward and the top social media posts about certain drugs or therapies often obscure their potential conflicts of interest (e.g., selling related products/services).
We know that many of these campaigns are backed by medical specialists or social media influencers, wedded to their theories and pushing whatever to cash in on all the fear. Those campaigns are about 'moving product' by subtly convincing millions of healthy people that their bodies are broken, dysfunctional, deficient, and decaying. I've written these words before but they are worth repeating: fearmongering is an assault on our collective soul and the theft of wellness for which we all pay a high price.
Full-On Menopause Mongering
We can see fearmongering everywhere, but the most brazen current example is the full-frontal assault on menopause. If you've read a newspaper or scrolled through social media lately you might be asking yourself: Why the heck is everyone getting worked up about menopause? Are hot flashes taking over the planet? Are women really as angry as the media portrays them to be? And the drugs: who do you believe about whether the drugs will help or harm you?
These are good questions, focusing on a condition that every woman - our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and so on - went through, back to the dawn of time. The fearmongering today bypasses the fact that most women who arrive at the end of their periods get through this phase without serious discomfort or suffering. For some, it's a big "meh." Others might be helped by what's on offer but they have to swim through a sea of corporate-sponsored fearmongering messages to get there.
The key theme in most of the media stories is that women's needs are unmet, many of them are deeply suffering and they all need to be considering MHT (Menopausal Hormone Therapy) in order to live their best lives. By the way, MHT is the new way hormones are branded, which used to be called HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Same stuff, different wrapping, carrying less baggage of the HRT horrors of the past.
In the mainstream media you'll find oodles of journalists in love with a story like this, featuring female suffering, emancipation, and empowerment in one tight little bundle with enough frilly gift wrapping to hide pharma's fingerprints. The dangers of hormones haven't changed, only the marketing of those dangers has.
This might have been kicked off by a story, "Women Have Been Misled About Menopause " in the New York Times Magazine , (Feb 1, 2023) a long-form essay which barely camouflages a shameless bit of salesmanship, setting the tone for so many other media outlets to follow. It aims to correct those who are still being 'misled' by outdated ideas about the dangers of hormone therapy, mainly breast cancer, also asserting that there are more "updated" interpretations of the alleged dangers of these drugs.
A newer New York Times article from last month (June 15, 2026) claims "Millions of Women are Left Out of Menopause's Moment " and further cements the hormone marketing by telling the sorry tale of those women who are totally FOMO because they are at a higher risk of breast cancer and therefore shouldn't dip their toes into the hormone pool.
Menopause mongering got a huge bump a while back when the US FDA reversed a 20-year-old black box warning of the dangers of hormone therapy and many media outlets (NPR, Slate , Nature ,) jumped on the bandwagon and leapt into covering the issues related to the removal of black-box warnings on HRT. Note to file: Black boxes are the most serious warnings applied to approved pharmaceuticals. The manufacturers fight like hell not to get a black box on their products, and when there is one there, they fight like hell to have it removed, regardless of whether their arguments are warranted. In this case, they won.
The official FDA/HHS announcement was titled: "HHS Advances Women's Health, Removes Misleading FDA Warnings on Hormone Replacement Therapy."
Pure unadulterated marketing. The science behind why those black box warnings of blood clots, cancers, and strokes didn't change, so why remove the black box? Yet here you have a senior FDA official saying: "The removal of the black box warning, based on the best science and data, is an incredible step forward to empower millions of women to live longer, healthier lives."
You can read about how disempowering it is to bamboozle women about the dangers of hormones in my last Brownstone article on this issue, where I report that the sudden stopping of hormone replacement therapy 20 years ago resulted in the biggest drop in breast cancer rates in the US ever.
But. But. But....Didn't you hear that there is a huge "unmet need" that has to be fulfilled? That essentially is the thrust of the media's take over the last two years on this very topic.
A sample of this includes Nature's January 2025 article: "The new science of menopause: these emerging therapies could change women's health " and Slate's November 2025 Article "How Did Perimenopause Get So Popular ?" This article made lots of hay out of the little sister of menopause, "perimenopause" which cranks up the fearmongering while aiming it at younger and younger women. In the words of the marketers (and Kramer from Seinfeld ), you don't sell the steak, you sell the sizzle. And there's nothing better to seed a market than to tell younger and younger cohorts of women what kind of special hell will await them when their periods are over. That'll get them positively tripping over each other to get to their doctors for their hormone prescriptions.
One of the brighter stars among the media stories of menopause was a piece this January in STAT News "How the perimenopause movement is hurting women ," which is, as far as I can tell, one of the only stories bothering to delve into the real harms of hormone therapy. Today women are being more and more exposed to promotional messages and downplaying the harm of a product we know increases risks of breast cancer, regardless of patients' age or the formulation.
Added to this collection are pieces in Time, Forbes Vogue The Atlantic the way celebrities are onboard with selling the idea of menopause as a "wellness opportunity" rather than just a medical event.
Here you see fear being sold in almost every conceivable space in the world of menopause. There is the fear of missing out, the fear of the drugs, the fear of the suffering, and the fear of the alternatives. There is the fear that doctors won't take a woman's hot flashes and night sweats seriously, there is the fear of consequences in the workplace and women fearing career discrimination because of what menopause is doing to them, and there is the fear of their bodies not being attractive or sexual in a way they are used to. Fear everywhere.
Women might feel that they are being betrayed by their ovaries, while also being shoveled hefty amounts of psychology, and "wellness" products including the pills, creams, and pricey interventions like it's the end of femininity.
There is a price tag to all of this, not just in the vertigo women might feel in the menopause marketplace, but in what it might cost them. Estimates are that the global menopause market is worth around $16-18 billion per year, but that is projected to grow to $24+ billion by 2030-2033. Suffice to say there is a lot of grift to be found in the medicalizing and medicating of menopause.
Pharma's influence is pernicious and ubiquitous, even if it doesn't seem that obvious to the casual observer. Drug companies have their hands in medical societies, research organizations, and educational/ marketing campaigns that shape narratives. Many of us would assert that the current pro-HRT renaissance (emphasizing a hormone's benefits while downplaying the known and serious harms) is partly driven by industry-friendly messaging, even if direct-to-consumer ads for hormones are rare.
Except for patented alternatives. Here's the fearmongering again, this time to subtly promote "non-hormonal" menopausal drugs. On February 11, 2024, Astella's newly approved menopausal drug, Veozah was advertised on the biggest billboard in the world, at Super Bowl LVIII. Astellas aired a 60-second commercial for Veozah just before kickoff, featuring a tagline "Fewer Hot Flashes, More Not Flashes."
Pushing Veozah (fezolinetant) as a non-hormonal treatment might seem clever, but it acts to further medicalize hot flashes, which for many women are trivial and are often dealt with quite effectively without drugs. The worrisome side effect profile of Veozah would make one think twice about this medication costing between $500 to $700 a month. In a year-long trial, the most common adverse reactions were pain, diarrhea, insomnia, back pain, and hot flashes. Go figure. Drug-induced liver injury is the real worry, and the elevation in liver enzymes means that women need to have baseline liver tests repeated at 3, 6, and 9 months. All this for some mild symptom relief. Hope the risk of liver failure was worth it.
Everyone's Talking Empowerment (But Nobody's Doing It)
Thankfully we no longer refer to menopause as an "estrogen deficiency disease," a corporate-sponsored tagline if there ever was one. But we still have a long way to go.
Much of the commentary and media reports today focus on how to deal with the symptoms of menopause, which assert that doctors are basically missing in action when it comes to menopause, and that patients need, more than anything, "empowerment."
What an old-fashioned thought that is: you mean women should ignore all the junk science, pharma marketing, and menopausal grifters out there and just follow their own intuition? Sounds like what Grandma would have done.
There are no glib and easy answers to all the menopausal marketing surrounding us, but perhaps the least offensive summary I've seen was a March 2024 article published in the medical journal, the Lancet , called "An empowerment model for managing menopause ."
While obnoxiously heavy on the "hormonal remake" theme, there are some key points worth noting. Particularly, menopause isn't a disease; it's a life phase for women who live long enough. The symptoms often come in miserable bundles - hot flashes, ruined sleep, low mood. Patients face it and doctors have to deal with it and they should do so beyond the default reflex which is a script for hormones and a pamphlet.
While no one can argue against respecting the clichés of "evidence-based" options and "shared decision-making," we can't forget that "evidence-based" often means whatever specialists push and what's easiest to prescribe. In this case, hormones, or MHT as they've rebranded it. For those who say menopause is a normal life stage rather than a pharmaceutical marketing opportunity, the menopause salespeople and other grifters are singing loudly, "Don't be Cruel."
The Lancet , similar to most vocal menopause specialists, insists that MHT is the only thing that fixes both hot flashes and genitourinary symptoms (while providing some small level of reduced fractures). No doubt the pills are convenient, especially for the industries and guidelines which favor a one-stop pill solution.
At the end of the day if "true empowerment" is possible, the experience of menopause for many women could be better. They don't need more pills or lotions, though some may be helped by these. They need good information, respect, and above all, agency.
Qualitative work done in the UK shows menopause is "simultaneously normal, devastating, identity-shifting, and liberating," which is to say, all over the map. Something this complex cannot be solved with clinical one-liners and fancy treatment algorithms. At the same time misinforming women as to the actual benefits and long-term harms of hormones is not cool, especially when that advice is delivered with a big dose of white-coated confidence, amnesia, and hubris.
The Lancet article manages to get to the heart of the issue: helping women manage symptoms is important, but medicalizing every aspect of menopause can be downright harmful.
Thankfully the Lancet does give a shout-out to a practical way for women to regain the kind of agency many of them want: CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy has shown some level of benefit. It reports that "for symptom clusters such as hot flashes, disturbed sleep, and depressed mood, RCTs show that CBT is effective."
How? Well, this makes me recall the work of the philosopher Viktor Frankl, who wrote Man's Search for Meaning although you can't always change your circumstances, you can choose your attitude toward them. That's a helpful perspective to adopt when facing many of life's challenges. If CBT helps women learn about their symptoms, accept them, and help them develop ways to cope with them, that might go a lot further than the flotsam washing in on a tidal wave of fearmongering.
Back to Frankl for a second. He wrote that finding meaning in life is the primary human motivational force. The ability to find meaning through work, love, and suffering could always be seen as a way forward. Many women seeking some kind of help for this particular transition in their lives have both time and options on their hands. They can, if they choose, go forward and demand to be taken seriously, without succumbing to the sharp end of the menopausal marketing machine.
Let's sing an ode to menopause, wrapped up in a little rhyme.
Let's not forget the lying, their fearmongering shrill notes,
Let's not forget the central thing, the one essential theme,
Alan Cassels is a Brownstone Fellow and a drug policy researcher and author who has written extensively about disease mongering. He is the author of four books, including The ABCs of Disease Mongering: An Epidemic in 26 Letters.
Tyler Durden Wed, 07/22/2026 - 22:35 Close Thu, 23 Jul 2026 02:10:00 +0000 Taco Bell Getting Desperate With This Shockingly Cheap Offer Amid "Explosive Diarrhea" Parasite Blowback
Taco Bell Getting Desperate With This Shockingly Cheap Offer Amid "Explosive Diarrhea" Parasite Blowback
Taco Bell Getting Desperate With This Shockingly Cheap Offer Amid "Explosive Diarrhea" Parasite Blowback
Taco Bell is betting a buck can buy back your love.
The fast-food giant rolled out $1 lettuce-free enchiritos - "for the ones who've been riding with us," as the company put it - a peace offering to customers who bolted after a cyclospora outbreak was traced to lettuce served at its restaurants, the New York Post reports. The enchiritos normally run $4.29. Regular nacho fries, usually $2.89, also went to a dollar for orders placed through the company's app.
The deal ran for one day.
The chain, never one to skip a chance at cheeky marketing, hyped it on social media alongside gushing customer testimonials. The dollar deal is "just to show how much we appreciate you," the company cooed on its website.
The promotion arrived the day after CEO Sean Tresvant went on LinkedIn to make a rather different kind of appeal. "We aren't entitled to your loyalty," he wrote Tuesday. "We earn it one meal at a time." He pledged to "be transparent about what we know and what we are doing next." Twenty-four hours later, the company earned it at 77% off.
The Numbers Behind The Discount
Behind the warm and fuzzy promo is a brand in serious trouble.
Foot traffic at Taco Bell's U.S. restaurants fell 20% below its daily average for the year on July 16, according to nationwide data from Placer.ai cited by CNN - before federal officials had said anything publicly. On July 17, when investigators named the chain as part of the probe, it dropped nearly 31%. The next day it was down 30%.
The damage is almost entirely Taco Bell's. Fast-casual and quick-service restaurants as a whole declined just 1.1% and 1.9% respectively on July 17. Chipotle told CNN it is following the investigation closely and does not believe its own sourcing is involved. Shares of parent company Yum! Brands are down roughly 9% from a week ago.
Polling by Morning Consult found the share of diners saying they trust the brand "not much" or "not at all" climbing after the news broke. For a chain that has spent years as the best performer in Yum's portfolio, that is the expensive part - foot traffic returns when the news cycle moves on, and trust does not.
To its credit, Taco Bell moved before it had to. The company pulled all affected Taylor Farms lettuce from its restaurants, with some locations acting before public-health authorities identified the supplier at all.
What The Parasite Actually Does
The bug in question, Cyclospora cayetanensis , is a microscopic parasite that spreads through contaminated fresh produce and unleashes days of misery: severe watery diarrhea, cramps, vomiting, nausea, fatigue and fever.
Just ask Cristy Cooper, who was laid up in a hospital bed after getting sick on June 25.
"This is worse than any flu I have ever gotten. It is just so miserable," she told the Post . "I am worn out from it. I really am."
How Much Of This Is Actually Taco Bell's
Less than the headlines suggest, and that distinction matters.
The outbreak investigators traced to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations covers five states - Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia - and roughly 1,644 reported illnesses.
The national picture is far larger and not one outbreak. The CDC has logged 4,173 lab-confirmed infections since May 1 plus more than 7,400 unconfirmed cases still under review, across 41 states, with 308 hospitalized. Michigan leads in case counts, with Ohio close behind. The agency says it is investigating multiple separate clusters, of which the lettuce outbreak is one , and no source has been established for the rest. Cyclosporiasis cases appear every summer. The CDC's season runs through August 31.
The CDC also excludes "probable" cases from its official tally, which is one reason its numbers lag some states' counts.
The Test That Wasn't
The outbreak drama took a messier turn over the weekend, when the FDA acknowledged that a test appearing to link the outbreak to supplier Taylor Farms was a false positive - and that the batch in question was not even part of the current recall.
Taylor Farms claimed the feds "apologized," a characterization FDA officials flatly rejected while continuing to point at the Mexican supplier as the likely culprit. The agency says there remains "overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall." Taylor Farms has recalled product distributed to 27 states.
Which leaves a peculiar standoff: a recall with no positive laboratory test behind it, a supplier disputing the terms of its own vindication, and a restaurant chain absorbing the reputational cost of an outbreak most of which has not been traced to anyone. For one day, that cost was priced at three dollars and twenty-nine cents.
Tyler Durden Wed, 07/22/2026 - 22:10 Close
Dotsquares