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Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:20:00 +0000 NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Keep Nation's Largest Grid From Buckling Under Heat Dome
NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Keep Nation's Largest Grid From Buckling Under Heat Dome
Summary:
NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Power Generation Keep PJM Alive
First Day of Heat Dome Read more.....
NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Keep Nation's Largest Grid From Buckling Under Heat Dome
Summary:
NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Power Generation Keep PJM Alive
First Day of Heat Dome Across Mid-Atlantic; Last Through Weekend
"Set Your AC To 78F": NYC Socialist Pleads With Residents As Fragile Grid Faces Blackout Risk
GridStatus' website shows the PJM Interconnection under severe peak-demand stress as heat-driven cooling loads surge across the Mid-Atlantic and eastern U.S.
PJM load is near 158 GW, net load is around 142 GW, and real-time power prices are sharply rising to about $929/MWh.
The fuel-mix chart shows the grid is heavily reliant on natural gas and coal, which together account for about 64.2% of all power, with nuclear at 20.6%. In total, gas, coal, and nuclear account for about 84.8% of the power being generated, while solar and wind remain in the high single digits.
Peak power prices across PJM are expected at around 6 p.m. local time.
The grid is operating near record load and relying heavily on gas-fired generation to prevent rolling blackouts.
Do not let climate-crisis socialists pretend otherwise: policies that reduce dispatchable fossil-fuel power leave grids extremely fragile and prone to failure when demand spikes.
Meanwhile, President Trump and the Energy Department are moving to keep fossil-fuel power generation online to preserve grid stability.
Why Democrats pushed for a power grid increasingly dependent on unreliable wind and solar, while stripping away the stable baseload capacity needed during peak demand, is no longer just an energy-policy question; it is a national security question.
"Set Your AC To 78F": NYC Socialist Pleads With Residents As Fragile Grid Faces Blackout Risk
"Set your AC to 78 degrees , turn off lights/electronics you're not using, and unplug what you can," New York City Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X late Wednesday.
New Yorkers are now getting a real-world lesson in what Mamdani's recent "warmth of collectivism " comments actually mean: shared sacrifice, including being told to dial back air conditioning during blistering heat as the risk of power blackouts rises.
The deeper issue here is that years of left-wing climate policies and poor grid management have left the metro area and the broader region increasingly vulnerable during peak-demand hours.
Temperatures are forecast to top 100F across NYC and large parts of the Mid-Atlantic and East Coast beginning today. The extreme weather is set to sharply drive up cooling demand, just as power grids are already under pressure from failed climate-change policies colliding with the era of data centers.
On Tuesday, the Energy Department issued emergency orders allowing PJM Interconnection power plants to bypass certain environmental limits to keep electricity flowing. Backup generators have been placed on standby on the grid serving 67 million people across 13 states.
New York City power prices climbed above $1,100 per megawatt-hour by late Wednesday afternoon. PJM expects to break its all-time peak load record of 165.5 gigawatts later today.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 15:20 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:20:00 +0000 Justice Department Sues California Over Glock Ban, Handgun Roster
Justice Department Sues California Over Glock Ban, Handgun Roster
Justice Department Sues California Over Glock Ban, Handgun Roster
Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times ,
The Justice Department (DOJ) on July 1 sued California over its ban on "machinegun convertible pistols" and its "handgun roster."
A Glock handgun and two magazines in a file photograph. Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo
The law bans the purchase of Glock pistols and guns with similar firing mechanisms, according to a DOJ press release.
The handgun roster limits the handguns California citizens can legally buy.
The DOJ claims both are unconstitutional.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation known as Assembly Bill 1127 in October 2025 to prohibit licensed firearms dealers from selling, transferring, or delivering "semiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistols."
The law went into effect on July 1, the same day that DOJ sued.
Under the law, a machinegun-convertible pistol is "any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted ... into a machinegun by the installation or attachment of a pistol converter ... without any additional engineering, machining, or modification of the pistol's trigger mechanism."
New York, Maryland, and Connecticut have similar bans.
The law was passed in response to so-called "Glock switches," which are not manufactured or endorsed by Glock.
The switches have been used by criminal gangs around the country.
Pistols sold before Jan. 1, 2026, are grandfathered under the law, which became effective on July 1.
The devices are prohibited by 29 states and under federal law, according to Everytown Research & Policy.
The lawsuit also alleges that the state's handgun roster illegally limits Californians' access to state-of-the-art firearms.
According to the lawsuit, the roster requires specific features such as a chamber-load indicator, which shows the gun is loaded, and a magazine-disconnect mechanism, which prevents a gun from firing when the magazine is out of the gun.
Until recently, the roster also required each gun to mark the handgun's make, model, and serial number onto shell casings fired by the gun. This is commonly called microstamping.
"As a result of these requirements, no new handguns were added to the roster between 2013 and 2023 ," the lawsuit states.
There is currently an injunction against enforcement of the roster.
However, the lawsuit states the DOJ has a responsibility to act because "these provisions of the roster statute violate the Second Amendment."
Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the lawsuit in a social media post on X.
"The Trump administration is once again trying to dismantle California's commonsense gun safety laws. California is seeing historic low crime rates and gun death rates. These laws save lives, " the post reads.
A spokesperson for Newsom's office reiterated the governor's statement.
Spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo stated that the state has data showing its gun laws have saved lives.
"We won't be intimidated by another politically motivated lawsuit. We'll continue defending the laws that protect Californians and keep dangerous weapons off our streets," Crofts-Pelayo stated in an email to The Epoch Times.
According to the DOJ, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the individual right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense.
The lawsuit contends the California laws infringe on that right.
"The Civil Rights Division will defend law-abiding citizens from states that seek to disarm them illegally," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announces new gun legislation in Sacramento on Feb. 1, 2023. Courtesy of Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 15:20 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:00:00 +0000 SAP Slows Hiring, Freezes Travel As AI Push Accelerates
SAP Slows Hiring, Freezes Travel As AI Push Accelerates
SAP Slows Hiring, Freezes Travel As AI Push Accelerates
Not even a day after reports swirled that Microsoft was preparing to cut thousands of employees, and as the broader tech sector continues to hemorrhage white-collar workers replaced by chatbots, the latest AI-related job-displacement news is coming from Europe's largest software company.
Bloomberg reports that German enterprise software giant SAP, best known for software that supports large corporations running core business operations, is preparing to slow hiring and cut travel costs as it diverts more capital toward developing AI tools .
More color from the report:
Going forward, SAP will "exclusively focus new hiring on selected profiles only, mainly core Al roles, that are critical for our long-term success," the executive board said in an email to staff on Wednesday evening that Bloomberg reviewed.
Internal travel unrelated to AI development will be paused, and the company will look for ways to cut spending with suppliers.
"As Al reshapes the future of our industry, we are making significant investments in the products and Al capabilities we build, complemented by strategic acquisitions in data and Al where we need additional expertise and technology," the managers said in the memo.
"By balancing where we invest and where we save, we ensure that SAP remains strong, competitive, and well- positioned for the long term."
SAP has also been pursuing acquisitions to bolster its AI offerings and reportedly lost out on a deal to purchase industrial AI and data firm Cognite, which instead agreed to a $3.1 billion deal with Schneider Electric.
The move comes as CEO Christian Klein reorganizes SAP around AI innovation, taking on a larger role in overseeing product development. It also comes as legacy software names have been battered this year on fears that AI rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI could disrupt their core businesses.
According to Bloomberg data, SAP had around 110,000 employees as of the first quarter of this year. While the report made no mention of future layoffs, the company's workforce appears to have already peaked in the third quarter of 2022, suggesting the latest "efficiency" push could further unwind years of overhiring.
New report:
SAP shares in Frankfurt were down around 2% on Thursday and about 33% on the year.
The selloff mirrors declines of Salesforce, Workday, and Microsoft, which have cut thousands of jobs while investing heavily in AI. The latest from The Market Ear suggests that, after months of declines, software could be set for a squeeze (read report ).
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 15:00 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:40:00 +0000 FDA Allows Label Saying Zyn Nicotine Pouches Less Harmful Than Cigarettes
FDA Allows Label Saying Zyn Nicotine Pouches Less Harmful Than Cigarettes
FDA Allows Label Saying Zyn Nicotine Pouches Less Harmful Than Cigarettes
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times ,
The Food and Drug Administration is letting Philip Morris International market its Zyn nicotine pouches as being safer than cigarettes.
Zyn nicotine cases and pouches on a table in New York City on Jan. 29, 2024. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The FDA said on June 30 that the pouches can now feature the statement, "Using Zyn instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis."
The authorization of the modified risk statement followed an extensive scientific review, regulators said.
That process concluded that Philip Morris subsidiary Swedish Match demonstrated the claim was scientifically accurate, that consumers understand the claim, and that marketing the products with the claim would benefit the population.
"FDA's review of modified risk products is intended to ensure that adult users have clear, science-based information about the relative harms of tobacco products, so they can make informed choices ," Bret Koplow, acting director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement.
"Today's decision allows these products to be marketed with a modified risk claim that informs adults who smoke about the lower risks associated with these products."
The FDA initially cleared Zyn pouches in 2025. Officials at the time said that the benefits to adult cigarette smokers outweighed the risks to adults and youth, based in part on the finding that the pouches contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes.
An FDA advisory panel in January said the proposed statement was likely accurate.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids opposed the proposal at the time. The nonprofit said that Swedish Match did not meet the standard for authorization, in part because there was no demonstrated benefit.
The authorization of the new claim includes the requirement that the pouch manufacturer carry out studies and surveillance, including assessing how people interact with the updated products and understand the updated risk-related information.
The authorization lasts for five years and can be extended.
If the FDA determines that the marketing under the adjusted statement no longer benefits the population, such as a scenario that involved a spike in uptake among young people, the agency may withdraw the authorization, officials said.
Philip Morris CEO Stacey Kennedy hailed the development. Kennedy said in a statement it "ensures these adults have access to accurate, science-based information, including FDA-authorized evidence that switching from cigarettes to Zyn reduces the risk of smoking-related diseases like heart disease and lung cancer."
"More broadly, it reinforces the agency's science-based approach to evaluating products across the continuum of risk and communicating those findings transparently," she said.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 14:40 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:20:00 +0000 Blue Owl Gates Investors Again After Top BDCs Hit With Massive 38%, 19% Redemption Requests
Blue Owl Gates Investors Again After Top BDCs Hit With Massive 38%, 19% Redemption Requests
After a catastrophic Q1 for private credit BDCs, Q2 is proceeding just as many had expected: just as bad.
After alternative asset ma
Read more.....
Blue Owl Gates Investors Again After Top BDCs Hit With Massive 38%, 19% Redemption Requests
After a catastrophic Q1 for private credit BDCs, Q2 is proceeding just as many had expected: just as bad.
After alternative asset manager titans such as Apollo, Blackrock, Blackstone and Cliffwater all gated their investors for a second straight quarter following a surge in redemption requests that easily surpassed what took place in Q1, earlier today we learned that the ground zero of the private credit implosion - Blue Owl Capital - was also slammed with redemption requests in the second quarter. Sure enough, it also gated its investors.
As Bloomberg reports, for the second straight quarter, two Blue Owl Capital private credit funds were hit with the industry’s largest redemption requests, forcing the manager to again cap withdrawals.
Investors in the roughly $34 billion Blue Owl Credit Income Corp., one of the largest in the industry, asked to pull 18.8% of shares, or $3.6 billion in the second quarter, according to an investor letter Thursday. That’s down fractionally less than the $4.2 billion requested in the prior period from the fund known as OCIC.
The smaller Blue Owl Technology Income Corp. saw shareholders request 38.1%, or $1.1 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in the first quarter.
The good news: the total redemptions were modestly below last quarter's record; the bad news: the redemptions persisted almost entirely despite the market staging a historic, remarkable rebound and as fears about software disruption supposedly eased. Turns out they did not.
Blue Owl, which as we have thoroughly documents, has been at the heart of the storm roiling the $1.8 trillion private credit market due to its massive exposure to software-linked loans, joins industry peers including Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and Blackstone in imposing a 5% redemption limit as investors accelerate out of the funds.
Blue Owl told investors it was “encouraged to see OCIC’s modestly lower quarter-over-quarter tender requests broadly across channels and geographies.” Let's see what the company will tell investors next quarter if we see a powerful drawdown in stocks which sparks a new selling panic across the private credit space.
According to Bloomberg, the firm said it has satisfied more than 43% of the original demand from shareholders with repeat withdrawal requests. It said second quarter requests were largely from those investors, and included “limited new participation.”
Realizing the existential threat they were in, Blue Owl executives - who in a bizarre act of "diversification" decided to buy a stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers - stepped up efforts to engage with clients over the past three months, flying around the world on a roadshow trying to educate investors, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. They emphasized the message that private credit is a performing asset and that their funds had delivered positive returns, the person said, requesting anonymity to discuss private meetings.
In the shareholder letter Thursday, the firm highlighted that about 90% of investors remain in the larger fund, which has posted approximately $1.2 billion of inflows this year.
“OCIC does not need to sell a single private loan to satisfy the tender offer,” Craig Packer, Blue Owl’s co-president, and Logan Nicholson, OCIC president, said in the letter to shareholders.
And in case that investors decided they don't want to be in the fund much longer, the firm said that both Blue Owl funds have “ample dry powder” to capitalize on better lending conditions in the market, with wider spreads and improved protections.
OCIC and OTIC had $11.6 billion and $1.3 billion in liquidity respectively, including cash and available borrowings assets as of May 31, according to the letters. OTIC oversees about $5 billion in assets.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 14:20 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000 Judge Blocks USPS Ballot Rule Tied To Trump's Election Integrity Order
Judge Blocks USPS Ballot Rule Tied To Trump's Election Integrity Order
Judge Blocks USPS Ballot Rule Tied To Trump's Election Integrity Order
Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a Trump administration proposal to boost election integrity by enhancing ballot tracking and verification, finding it conflicted with a 2021 settlement requiring the agency to prioritize the timely delivery of election mail.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled on July 1 that USPS could not move forward with the proposed rule, which would have required states using the mail for federal absentee and mail-in voting to adopt standardized ballot envelopes with trackable barcodes and provide USPS with voter participation lists to make ballot verification easier. Ballot mailings that failed to comply would have been rejected.
One day after the proposed rule was published in early June, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) returned to court in a long-running lawsuit originally filed during the 2020 election, asking Sullivan to enforce a 2021 settlement that requires USPS to prioritize the monitoring and timely delivery of election mail through the 2028 election cycle.
The proposed rule stems from President Donald Trump’s March executive order directing USPS to develop new standards for handling federal ballot mail as part of a broader thrust to bolster election integrity.
The Justice Department, which represented USPS in the case, did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Rule Boosts Election Integrity, DOJ Says
In opposing the NAACP’s motion, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in a court brief that the proposed rule was designed to improve—not hinder—the handling of election mail.
Attorneys representing the Trump administration wrote that requiring standardized Election Mail logos and Intelligent Mail barcodes would make ballots easier to identify throughout the postal network. They argued this would allow USPS to better monitor the movement of mail-in ballots and help implement the “extraordinary measures” USPS has traditionally used to expedite election mail before federal elections.
“Such requirements promote the ’monitoring and timely delivery of Election Mail'; they do not frustrate it,” they wrote in the brief. “And while the Postal Service has proposed requiring state and local election officials to identify the names and addresses of the persons to whom they send ballots and to provide the barcodes for the ballot envelopes, requiring this information—which officials already, by definition, have—would not compromise the lawful delivery of any mail.”
The administration stated in the proposal that the new rule would strengthen election integrity by creating a uniform ballot-tracking system while leaving decisions about voter eligibility entirely to the states.
Election officials—not USPS—would determine who is eligible to vote by mail and would submit lists of voters receiving mail ballots, together with unique barcode information, through a federal portal. The Postal Service would use that information only to verify ballot mailings and improve tracking, not to decide who could vote.
“State and local election officials would maintain full control over who they send ballots to,” government attorneys said in the brief.
“There are no plausible concerns, certainly at this stage, that the Proposed Rule would negatively impact USPS’s ability to timely and reliably deliver Election Mail. Rather, this provision would, again, assist USPS in better being able to track (and thus deliver) such important mail.”
Plaintiffs Claim ‘Confusion and Uncertainty’
The NAACP argued in its motion that the new requirements would violate the 2021 settlement and could prevent eligible voters from receiving mail ballots.
“Implementation of the Proposed Rule would threaten to prevent millions of eligible voters from receiving mail-in ballots to which they are entitled,” attorneys representing the plaintiffs wrote.
They also argued that, even while the rule remains in proposed form, it already caused confusion within USPS, and among election officials and voters, about what procedures will be in place for mail-in ballots in the November 2026 election cycle.
“The pendency of the Proposed Rule ... creates confusion and uncertainty,” they wrote. “USPS, for example, cannot conduct internal or external trainings to plan for a rule that is not yet finalized. Nor can it provide answers or guidance to election officials and voters to mitigate confusion or uncertainty.”
The case traces back to August 2020, when the NAACP sued USPS over operational changes introduced around that time that plaintiffs said caused widespread mail delays during the COVID-19 pandemic and threatened the timely delivery of absentee ballots.
The parties settled the case in December 2021. Under the agreement, USPS committed through 2028 to issue nationwide election-mail guidance, organize regular “outreach meetings” with the NAACP before federal elections, provide performance reports, and make good-faith efforts to prioritize the monitoring and timely delivery of election mail.
Trump’s March executive order directed USPS to develop new standards to strengthen election security, prompting USPS to publish the proposed rule, which the NAACP challenged.
The judge sided with the plaintiffs, concluding that the proposed procedures conflicted with USPS’s commitment to prioritize the timely delivery of election mail.
Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represented the NAACP in the case, praised the ruling.
“The court today correctly recognized that USPS’s plan to create roadblocks to mail-in voting was inconsistent with its commitment to timely deliver election mail,” she said in a statement. “USPS’s plan was unwise, unlawful, and a threat to the millions of voters who rely on mailed ballots to participate in our democracy.”
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 14:00 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:40:00 +0000 Vance Explains How US Will Use Iran MoU To Replenish Global Oil Supply
Vance Explains How US Will Use Iran MoU To Replenish Global Oil Supply
Vance Explains How US Will Use Iran MoU To Replenish Global Oil Supply
Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on "The Michael Knowles Show" published Tuesday that the US would use the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran to "refill" global oil supplies and stockpiles and to prepare for more potential military action against the Islamic Republic.
"I think what the president has told us to do is use this MoU to sort of refill the world's oil economy, to refill some stocks, and then to see where the hand is ," the vice president said.
"And … if the Iranians are willing to make the commitments that we would like them to make and are willing to back those up with verifiable milestones, then we are going to change our relationship with Iran. And if they don't do that, then nothing has really changed except for what we’ve already accomplished from the military campaign, which is a lot. So, we kind of have two options here. We have the option of pursuing a long-term deal with the Iranians, but that requires a significant change in their behavior. We have the option of banking our wins and then, of course, doing things on top of that if the president feels that we have to . And I think both of those options are very much in play ," he added.
Summarizing the position, Knowles said, "So then the message if you’re an Iranian, the message you’re getting from the US is not, okay, we’ve settled this, you get to keep the Strait of Hormuz and we’ll try to play nice. Now, the message is we’re going to serve our self-interest by replenishing the oil coffers and get back to us in 60 days, you might have some fire and brimstone coming back down."
Vance didn’t dispute Knowles’ characterization and said, "And if you actually behave, you won’t, right?"
Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said in a post on X that Vance's comments heightened suspicion in Iran that the war will restart despite the MoU . He made the comments in a post discussing the view in Iranian political circles that Israel may launch an attack before Israeli elections are held in October.
“Will Israel restart the war with Iran before the October elections? This is the consensus view emerging within Iran’s internal national security debate over the past week,” Parsi said.
"Several factors are driving Tehran to this conclusion. Beyond its deep—and not entirely unwarranted—suspicion of President Donald Trump’s intentions, heightened by Vice President JD Vance’s recent remark that Trump wants to use the MOU to replenish global oil reserves and then 'see where the hand is,' two developments stand out: the recent Israeli-Lebanese agreement and its impact on Hezbollah’s military posture over the coming months," he added.
Full interview:
VIDEO
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 13:40 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:20:00 +0000 Sin(a)tra
Sin(a)tra
By Michael Every of Rabobank
Sin(a)tra
Let’s be Frank: the central banker pow-wow at Sintra had a touch of Sinatra . Fed Chair Warsh belted out “I’ll do it MYYYYYY way ,”
Read more.....
Sin(a)tra
By Michael Every of Rabobank
Sin(a)tra
Let’s be Frank: the central banker pow-wow at Sintra had a touch of Sinatra . Fed Chair Warsh belted out “I’ll do it MYYYYYY way ,” and everyone else chimed in that they’d had a few regrets about how they’ve run monetary policy and were coincidentally now mentioning them.
Markets swooned when Warsh stated the case for Fed independence and that anyone expecting tolerance for inflation above 2% “would be disappointed.”
Yet he also sang with an AI autotune . While the current “AI shock” is driving a boom in capex, i.e., the inflation he said he will fight, this will eventually expand the supply side through higher productivity, a shift with “huge implications for monetary policy.” In other words, “we’ve all looked around, and we’ve seen that prices are too high,” but he can fight it by saying it will eventually become deflation. (That would logically hold true for tariffs; and wars in the Middle East – if you win them .)
Warsh really will do things his way . He said central banking needs structural adaptation and must move away from forward guidance towards “framework guidance,” with “contemporaneous real-time” big data/AI monitoring to capture what’s going on --not backwards-looking, inaccurate analogue surveys the equivalent of vinyl-- within 9–12 months . This will also include new measures of inflation: are they going to be lower or higher than the current ones based on the heuristic in how they have always been changed so far?
He also wants central bankers to go on tour less . He rejected heavy reliance on “conventional wisdom” or detailed predictive guidance, i.e., a data calendar filled with central bankers talking.
This implies the Wall Street-analyst Brat Pack may soon be out of the picture . What’s a generation of macro-commentary scribblers pushing “X said Y”, or “Survey X was up Z vs consensus of Y, and we guess next month will be A” going to do with nothing to report on? Indeed, if we have omerta and a (transparent?) set of accurate real-time economic indicators, what role is there for macrostrategy? More chatter to fill the space? A meta-approach, i.e., seeing differences between a Kalecki or Minsky view of political economy vs. the neoclassical, as such fundamental questions re-emerge; or, given other economies won’t have the same data quality or timeliness, linking up with what’s going on abroad?
It may also imply that Wall Street itself will not be a Warsh fan . He is no fan of QE and the Fed’s large balance sheet: what if we see deregulation aimed at incentivizing banks to lend into productive capital like factories or infrastructure rather than holding financial assets?
Warsh is perhaps already getting others to do it his way. The ECB’s Lagarde spoke of going “back to basics,” abandoning heavy reliance on unconventional tools and complex forward guidance in favour of simpler frameworks. The BoE’s Bailey voiced regret over past forward guidance practices and aligned with the broader retreat from detailed predictive signalling. The BoC’s Macklem didn’t push back either, and multiple reports note a widespread “open-mindedness” among Sintra attendees on AI and productivity too.
Let me say this not in a shy way, things are changing far more than a “Warsh wants inflation back below 2%” headline captures.
Meanwhile, the brief US Operation Freedom to get Hormuz oil flowing before the US-Iran MoU was reportedly shot down by Saudi Arabia : Riyadh refused to allow the US to use its bases or airspace, to which the US threatened to not shoot down incoming drones or missiles – and is reportedly considering moving bases elsewhere in the region – like Israel(?) Which Iran is again threatening today in tit-for-tat rhetoric.
We had more ‘positive’ talks in Qatar. Both sides reportedly still want the ‘peacefire’ to hold for now , as we expected, as the US tries to convince Iran to look at the ‘bigger picture’ and not insist on control of Hormuz or tolls. However, the US also said Iran will not get any frozen assets until it fulfils the MoU, which Iran puts the other way round, as Tehran claims it will use that cash in Qatar to buy “required goods” while the US says it will be held in escrow and used to buy US products. Meanwhile, VP Vance made clear the MoU is an opportunity to refuel, then see if more war is required (our base case), as Lebanon and Syria, a former Iranian proxy now flipped, joined a CENTCOM-led Middle East security dialogue for first time, and Iraq’s PM gave pro-Iranian militias a 30 September deadline to disarm.
Ukraine will allow weapons exports for first time since start of the war ; Germany charged a Ukrainian suspect in the Nord Stream sabotage case; Russia and Crimea are grappling with fuel shortages and blackouts as Zelenskyy warned of further massive Russian strikes planned for Ukraine; the US NATO envoy has warned some allies are ‘lagging’ on their spending; the UK’s defence black hole just tripled to £15bn; Germany is proposing to make US weapons; and US defence startups are raiding the auto and fracking sectors for parts to speed weapons output.
In frenetic geoeconomics, the US opted not to renew the USMCA , so it rolls annually towards a 10-year death unless reworked into Fortress Americas; Canada joined Europe – its song contest that is, alongside Australia; Politico says ‘Europe wants to save its industry. It still can’t agree how’, as the EU imposed a €3 fee on small packages from abroad and reduced steel quotas while raising tariffs; the Supreme Court ruling on independent agencies and regulators is reportedly seeing Europe think again about the €1.7 trillion data deal it signed with the US; the White House is accelerating its plans for AI model standards; the US nuclear power regulator is proposing changing rules that protect people from radiation, as Brussels will bend its budget rules to allow countries to borrow more for EVs, bike lanes, and train stations; and the EU-Mercosur trade deal is sparking a quota tug-of-war as LatAm countries can't agree on how to divide it up.
In equally frenetic politics, democratic socialists continue to win US electoral primaries, seeing Trump warn about the return of communism : while hyperbole to European ears, that’s easily matched by many statements made by new figures on the US far left (and right ). It also underlines that there’s no longer a US Overton Window - indeed, following the Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship, the Trump plan B is reportedly ‘No expectant moms at the border’; November’s midterms could be wild, and November 2028’s election’s far more so - and Europe and Australia are far from immune.
As such, central banks need to get things right – or talk about ‘revolution’ may not be hyperbole . As the tears subside, there isn’t a lot to find amusing in all this; or bemusing - we are being told by the Establishment that things need to, and will be , done differently ahead, like it or not. And that includes central banking and how one analyses what they are doing and why .
Let the record show I took the blows in trying to flag this well in advance, and I did it my way.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 13:20 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:40:00 +0000 FDA Staffers Oppose Proposed Clearance Of Peptides
FDA Staffers Oppose Proposed Clearance Of Peptides
FDA Staffers Oppose Proposed Clearance Of Peptides
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times ,
Food and Drug Administration staffers said in newly released documents that they do not support letting compound pharmacies manufacture seven popular peptides.
The Food and Drug Administration in White Oak, Md., on June 5, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
FDA personnel said in documents posted online on June 29 that there are safety concerns with the peptides, including the possibility of triggering immune responses that could lead to "life-threatening and catastrophic reactions."
They do not favor classifying BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c, Emideltide, Epitalon, or Semax in a way that would let pharmacies use them in compounded medicines.
Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act as building blocks of proteins and perform essential biological functions in the body. If permitted, compounding pharmacies can manufacture them for personalized medications tailored to patients' unique needs.
They have become popular among some fitness influencers and have received endorsement from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Compounding refers to doctors and pharmacists creating customized medicine by combining, mixing, or altering ingredients.
The documents were posed ahead of a scheduled meeting of the FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, which will consider whether to support or oppose loosening restrictions on the peptides.
The FDA in April said it would not take action against compounding pharmacies that use some of the peptides, and is now considering whether to add them to a list of approved substances.
The FDA could create some guard rails within which peptides could be prepared by legitimate pharmacies, according to Scott Brunner, CEO of Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, a trade association for pharmacies.
"We would urge the agency to look at this not as an up or down vote, but to consider a middle path that does address a very real public health concern," Brunner said.
Ban
The FDA in 2023 labeled more than a dozen peptides, including BPC-157 and KPC, as substances banned for compounding.
Officials at the time said there was a lack of information on the peptides. The available data indicated "significant safety risks," they said.
Kennedy has said the ban was illegal. Such bans should only happen if there is a safety signal, he has said.
No such safety signal was identified.
Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), a pharmacist, wrote to officials in 2025 in support of allowing the compounding of six peptides, including BPC-157.
New Members
The FDA appointed multiple new members to the compounding panel, including seven who have links to businesses or clinics involved in peptide therapies.
That includes Robert Harshbarger, a Tennessee senator, pharmacist, and son of Rep. Harshbarger.
"All committee members underwent the same ethics review and vetting process required of all FDA advisory committee members, " a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said.
"Candidates that could not meet existing ethics requirements were removed from consideration."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:40 Close
Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:20:00 +0000 Minnesota Gov Walz Pardons Convicted Child-Molester, Blocking Deportation
Minnesota Gov Walz Pardons Convicted Child-Molester, Blocking Deportation
A Minnesota pardon board that includes Gov Tim Walz among its three members has issued a full pardon to a convicted Laotian child-molester, torpedoing
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Minnesota Gov Walz Pardons Convicted Child-Molester, Blocking Deportation
A Minnesota pardon board that includes Gov Tim Walz among its three members has issued a full pardon to a convicted Laotian child-molester, torpedoing Homeland Security's effort to deport him . The 42-year-old convict, Tou Lue Vang, submitted a letter to the board saying he regretted what he did -- and just like that, his criminal record is now clean as a whistle via unanimous decision.
“Governor Tim Walz's decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting,” said DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis. “These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting. Tou Lue Vang lost his legal status following his conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl."
Tou Lue Vang told the pardons board that he had regrets about abusing a 10-year-old girl multiple times (DHS photo)
In a storyline that has Democrats co-conspiring to infuse precious "diversity" into the American bloodstream over more than three decades , the Clinton administration granted Vang legal status after he entered the United States as a child in 1994. Now, 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has helped guarantee that the convicted sex fiend will be safe from deportation. The two other members of the pardon board are Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and chief Supreme Court justice, Natalie Hudson .
Vang was convicted of sexually assaulting a girl who was just 10 years old when his perverted acts began. He repeated the offense with the same girl between 2002 and 2004, and pathetically tried to buy her silence with an offer of just $10 in hush money. After his conviction, an immigration judge ordered his removal way back in 2006 .
When he was first interrogated by police, Vang tried to sweep away the gravity of his actions, telling them, "it is a cultural thing...to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12.” Apparently, Walz -- who's heralded as a reliable "ally" for the LGBTQ crowd and famously put tampons in school-kids' boys rooms -- thinks diversity in sexual morality is our strength too. Vang's pardon quest was bolstered by a supportive letter to the board from his victim, along with many letters of support from the "community."
Minnesota Gov Tim Walz was part of a unanimous decision that will prevent a child-molester's deportation
Minnesota is on a roll when it comes to helping Laotian criminals stay in America. "In May, the state pardoned Jai Vang , a criminal illegal alien from Laos, whose criminal record includes convictions for robbery , robbery of a business with a gun , and driving under the influence of liquor," noted DHS in a statement. He was ordered to be removed from the United States -- you better sit down for this -- in May 1996. The Clinton administration sprung him loose . Between March 2025 and June 2026, Minnesota has received 67 pardon requests that cite immigration woes as a reason for seeking forgiveness. Across all decisions made this year, the Minnesota board has approved an overwhelming 94% of pardons requested.
Of course, the Trump administration is in a glass house when it comes to throwing rocks about pardons . Among too many other examples, Trump has stirred the disgust of victims and law-and-order Republicans alike with pardons or commutations of:
Joseph Schwartz , a nursing home operator in New York convicted of a $39 million tax fraud scheme
Eliyahu Weinstein , a real estate developer who'd been convicted of a real estate Ponzi scheme; after his 24-year sentence was commuted after only a few months, he immediately started orchestrating a scheme in which he defrauded people who thought they were investing in deals to get scarce medical supplies to war-torn Ukraine
Sholam Weiss , who was staring down an 845-year sentence for racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and transporting stolen goods, after defrauding an insurer and its elderly policyholders out of £91 million; he fled the US before he could be prosecuted and was convicted in absentia
Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:20 Close