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Sun, 12 Jul 2026 03:20:00 +0000 The Economics Of The Surveillance State
The Economics Of The Surveillance State
Authored by John Wilder ,
“That was a Beria operation in Stalin’s time. It was deactivated twenty years ago.” Read more.....
The Economics Of The Surveillance State
Authored by John Wilder ,
“That was a Beria operation in Stalin’s time. It was deactivated twenty years ago.”
– The Living Daylights
How did KGB agents commit suicide? Two shots to the back of the head. (all photo content as-found)
Remember Lavrentiy Beria’s cheerful advice: “Show me the man, and I will find the crime”? Back in the Soviet Union they had so many laws on the books that everybody broke at least one before lunch, I mean, when lunch was available. And if they didn’t, they could make up something. Beria just needed enough spies and informants to spot the right violation.
Beria would have loved modern America. We’ve upgraded his whole operation with better cameras, faster computers, and added actual profit margins.
Let’s start with Flock™ cameras.
Flock Safety© cameras now line roads from coast to coast. More than 100,000 of the little snitches sit on poles in ditches scanning license plates 24/7 and however many metric hours in a metric day and metric days in a metric week. The cameras rolled out one quiet law enforcement contract at a time until the whole country is now blanketed.
Not everyone who comes into your life is your friend. Some are just surveillance cameras. (btw, she was innocent, but the police didn’t apologize)
Maps of the cameras exist online, but those rely on humans, and it shows only three of the eight within five miles of my house in Modern Mayberry. I could plot an avoidance route if I had nothing better to do than play spy versus spy on my commute, or build a detector like Benn Jordan did.
VIDEO
Most of us have jobs and families instead. But, hey, we’ve funded a system so that every time you get on the road, you’re creating a record that will last as long as they have storage. And cops can now use this to stalk their ex-wives, so it’s a double win, right?
How did the farmer stalk his ex? He tractor.
Next up?
Ring™ doorbells joined the neighborhood watch program without asking their “owner’s” permission. When several co-eds were murdered in Idaho a couple of years ago, investigators pulled Ring© footage to track a suspect’s car. A subpoena moves quicker than a polite request and never waits for the doorbell to be answered, so they got all the data that they needed to catch the guy. I’m okay with catching murderers, but how many people will be caught in fishing dragnets for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Where exactly are you going at 2 a.m., citizen?
Laptops aren’t safe, either.
A hacker got grabbed in Finland on his way out of the country. Prosecutors used the connection with Microsoft’s© handy Global Device Identifier™ to identify him. One persistent number tied his computer to all the mischief. Microsoft® handed over the records after the usual court paperwork and a feeble, “oh, stop . . . customer privacy . . . .” My operating system apparently keeps better tabs on me than my own mother, but at least Ma Wilder has the excuse of being dead.
I wonder if my FBI agent likes the jokes I make?
Then there is Windows Recall© on the fancy new Copilot™ machines. It snaps pictures of your screen every few seconds while you work and builds a searchable scrapbook of everything
They promise. Pinky swear, even.
Still feels like my laptop decided to start a scrapbooking hobby without telling me first.
Besides, my ISP already knows every site you visit and how long you lingered. Edward Snowden spilled the beans years ago on the big programs that pulled data straight from the servers of Microsoft™, Google®, Apple©, Facebook™ and the Rest®. Fiber-optic taps caught traffic in bulk, Then three-letter outfits and tech companies worked hand in glove.
The result is giant databases full of regular people doing regular things. But don’t worry! If you’ve been good, you’re fine. And if you’re Hillary Clinton or Jeff Epstein, all the data will be lost.
Big Tech loves this data game because it prints money for them. They track my habits down to the weirdest details (really, kittens eating salami?) and sell the profiles to insurers, advertisers, and anyone else with a checkbook.
My patterns become their product. They turn my life into a spreadsheet and then mark it up like a used-car dealer who knows you really need that transmission fixed today.
Speaking of cars, they’re getting chatty, too.
Modern ones log every trip, every hard brake, every late-night drive. Some already phone home to the manufacturer and won’t work unless the software license is up to date. Insurance companies will pay good money for a direct feed on how I actually drive instead of guessing from your age and ZIP code.
Soon enough, the car might call the cops if it thinks I had one too many. My pickup turns into the world’s most expensive designated snitch.
Hopefully, during the 4th of July holiday you didn’t get distracted and miss the big picture: The British blew a 13 colony lead.
Ninety-nine percent of us carry cell phones that never stop reporting. Every search, every video, every song gets logged. Cops have started treating a phone left at home like suspicious behavior
Big companies with this much reach do have a kryptonite®: governments. They do exactly what the government asks. They bent over backwards to limit talk about COVID and elections under the last administration. Books and posts that wandered off the approved script vanished from platforms: I know, I made a COVID joke on a podcast and it was sent to podcast jail.
The same tools will work just as well for whoever sits in the big chair next. They already proved they can move fast when someone important asks nicely.
Harvey Silverglate spelled this out in his book Three Felonies a Day . Federal law has grown so broad and fuzzy that a decent prosecutor can usually find something to charge anyone with. Normal life now sits inside a minefield of possible violations. Add constant surveillance and the minefield gets floodlights, motion sensors, and a searchable menu.
Stalin put a ? after the name of every traitor: they question Marx.
The Code of Federal Regulations stretches to roughly 190,000 pages or almost the number of words in a GloboLeftist meme. Rules multiply every year. Nobody can read the whole thing, and if they did, another 10,000 pages would have been added in the meantime. When surveillance supplies the evidence, the vague laws and regulations become precision weapons. Who cares if you’re guilty? Just being charged is punishment for the innocent. The process is the point.
Government and Big Tech® now hold detailed maps of where you drive, what you read, who you talk to, and how you spend your time. Also notice that they don’t bother to use these to catch murderers in Chicago or gang criminals. No, they’re encouraging that violence.
Beria ran on fear and informants. The updated model runs on sensors, algorithms, and sweet quarterly earnings. It costs less to operate and reaches farther and hardly ever complains about running out of vodka. The economics make perfect sense for the people building it, because collecting the data is cheap once the hardware is installed.
The Surveillance State runs on convenience for the watchers and profit for the builders. Beria would have been jealous of the efficiency and probably asked for stock options.
Don’t you love it when totalitarian communism and capitalism overlap?
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 23:20 Close Sun, 12 Jul 2026 02:45:00 +0000 Which States Produce The Most Food In America?
Which States Produce The Most Food In America?
From California’s fruit and vegetable farms to the Midwest’s vast corn and soybean fields, agriculture looks very different across the United States.
Using the latest data from
Read more.....
Which States Produce The Most Food In America?
From California’s fruit and vegetable farms to the Midwest’s vast corn and soybean fields, agriculture looks very different across the United States.
Using the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA ), this graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, ranks every state by its agricultural production value in 2024.
America’s Largest Agricultural Economies
The table below shows each state’s agricultural production value in 2024.
Together, the top 10 states account for well over half of America’s agricultural production value. Geography, climate, water availability, and decades of specialization have helped create distinct regional farming economies across the country.
California Remains America’s Agricultural Giant
California generated $67.4 billion in agricultural production value in 2024, nearly twice as much as any other state.
Its combination of specialty crops, fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy, and favorable growing conditions allows it to produce more agricultural value than any other U.S. state despite accounting for only a small share of the nation’s farmland .
Texas, another large state by both population and land area, ranks third nationally, generating $37.6 billion driven largely by cattle production.
The Midwest Is America’s Food Engine
While California tops the rankings individually, the Midwest dominates collectively.
The region accounts for 44% of U.S. agricultural production value, powered by states including Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, and Illinois. Taken together, these states produce over 60% of America’s corn volume .
Many Midwestern states also specialize in soybeans, livestock, and dairy, forming the backbone of both the U.S. food system and global agricultural exports. This makes the Midwest one of the world’s leading agricultural production corridors.
A Diverse Agricultural Economy
Agricultural strength varies widely by region. Western states generate high-value specialty crops, vineyards, and dairy, while Southern states are major producers of poultry, cotton, rice, and cattle. Although Northeastern agriculture is smaller by value, it remains an important source of dairy, produce, and regional food supply.
This regional specialization helps make the U.S. one of the world’s leading agricultural producers and food exporters , supplying both domestic consumers and global markets alike.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the states with the most farmland.
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 22:45 Close Sun, 12 Jul 2026 02:40:00 +0000 Iran Begins 'Retaliation' Attack On Gulf After Overnight US Launched 3rd Round Of Strikes, Following IRGC Hit On Cargo Ship
Iran Begins 'Retaliation' Attack On Gulf After Overnight US Launched 3rd Round Of Strikes, Following IRGC Hit On Cargo Ship
Update 10:40pm ET.
Somewhat predictably, as has been the pattern of this w
Read more.....
Iran Begins 'Retaliation' Attack On Gulf After Overnight US Launched 3rd Round Of Strikes, Following IRGC Hit On Cargo Ship
Update 10:40pm ET.
Somewhat predictably, as has been the pattern of this war - Iran is in the very early morning hours (local) launching retaliatory strikes on Arab Gulf nations, or as the Iranians say against US assets and bases in the Gulf. Per state media:
IRAN LAUNCHES SERIES OF STRIKES AGAINST US TARGETS: PRESS TV
Last week Kuwait and Bahrain were favored targets, but there are signs that Iran - now with reports of Tehran having been hit tonight (CBS) - could begin widening its attacks to include the UAE, or even potentially the Saudis (though there have yet to be signs of this).
What's clear is that things are back to square one - with the MoU agreement clearly effectively dead, unless diplomacy gets into overdrive and both sides show some measure of restraint. But restraint is not evident currently, only a widening up the escalation ladder.
To recount from where we started Saturday morning, we wrote...
As for the big picture of where things stand, University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape, who authors "The Escalation Trap ," has pointed out that that the millions of Iranians who took to the streets last week to attend the late Ayatollah's funeral demonstrate growing nationalist resolve. He explained that this only makes further escalation more likely later this summer, as public sentiment gets hardened against the US.
"The balance of military capabilities did not change over the weekend," Pape said . "The balance of political will shifted ."
Referencing the now unraveling ceasefire and negotiations process, Pape is predicting: "The pause appears to be another stage in the escalation process rather than the beginning of de-escalation ."
* * *
Update 8:40pm ET.
At 7:15pm ET, the US launched its third round of strikes on Iran this week after Tehran declared that it’s closing the Strait of Hormuz “until further notice", and Iranian forces attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship, the M/V GFS Galaxy, transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said that President Donald Trump ordered the fresh strikes, which targeted Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels, after the latest Iranian attack on the Hormuz-crossing vessel. Central Command said a civilian crew member is missing and the ship was unable to continue its journey after suffering significant damage.
Shortly after the Iran’s state-run media reported explosions at multiple areas along the country’s southern coasts, including the energy and petrochemical hubs of Bushehr and Asalouyeh. Blasts were also reported at the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar-e Dayyer, as well as the Sirik area near the Strait of Hormuz.
According to unconfirmed reports, the US strikes on Iran have reached all the way north to the Capital of Iran, Tehran as the US goes "full scale from bases in Kuwait and Bahrain."
“Iran made a poor choice,” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on social media. “Now they pay.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the Hormuz closure, saying it won’t allow any vessels to pass through until foreign interference ends, according to state-run IRIB News. The IRGC said it halted a cargo ship after firing a warning shot because it tried to transit the strait on Saturday despite being told not to, the outlet added.
The developments cast significant doubts over the potential for talks aimed at trying to reach a more lasting peace deal. The rhetoric had been getting more heated on both sides in recent days even as the two parties had suggested there was still room for conversations.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Oman on Saturday for talks on the future of Hormuz, but there was no sign of involvement by senior US envoys. Also Earlier, Iran demanded that the US implement key commitments under a recent deal before more talks take place, rejecting Trump’s contention that negotiations could continue without a ceasefire. Tehran said Washington must meet Iran’s conditions for resolving transit issues through the Strait of Hormuz and normalizing its oil exports .
On Friday Trump threatened to shower Iran with “1000 Missiles” if it acted on a threat to kill the US leader, “in this case, ME!”
The US had also demanded that Iran publicly declare all channels of the Hormuz open to shipping and pledge not to attack civilian vessels transiting the waterway. Tehran would face consequences if it fails to deliver the public assurance, senior Trump administration officials told reporters. Those demands followed several days of US airstrikes and Iranian retaliation that sent oil prices higher this week.
The Islamic Republic is holding a three-day memorial ceremony for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following a days-long funeral that drew large crowds to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq. Khamenei was killed in an attack as the US and Israel began their war on Iran at the end of February.
His son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday called for revenge for the killing of his father.
“It is our certain and undeniable duty that this revenge be carried out,” he said in a post on X.
Earlier
Iran has thrown Trump's ultimatum and Saturday deadline right back at Washington, saying that instead it is the United States that must first meet the agreed-upon conditions in order to normalize shipping and energy transit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Fars news agency reports Saturday that Iranian leadership is demanding that the US implement "agreed-upon understandings" before any talks take place . While the White House has declared the ceasefire to be 'over' - it has also indicated ongoing contacts and talks with Iran via mediators. But this appears to have been reduced to simple ultimatums being shuttled between capitals by Qatari mediators. There are no actual sit-down talks on the horizon after two rounds of fresh tit-for-tat attacks broke out this past week.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) itself is barely alive at this point, also with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, separately announcing that Tehran could stop honoring the MoU if US attacks continue .
"Should the United States continue to violate its obligations under the MoU, Iran will no longer be bound to fulfil its obligations under the MoU ," Iravani told reporters at UN headquarters.
But he did make clear that Iran is still committed to the agreement "provided that the United States fully and faithfully complies with its own obligations."
President Trump has meanwhile continued to issue his own warnings and threats. He said Friday that the US military would "completely decimate" Iran if its leaders attempted or carried out his assassination. He took it a step further in an overnight Truth Social Post, saying he has 1,000 missiles "locked and loaded" - aimed at Iran - should he be targeted by Tehran's agents .
Strangely, the US President signed off with his puzzling "praise be to Allah!" reference - perhaps mockingly or sarcastically.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei still hasn't been seen in public after the Feb.28 US-Israeli airstrikes took out his father, killed members of his family, and reportedly badly wounded him. Mojtaba is said to be observing a private memorial for his slain father, and made no known appearance at the week-long funeral processions and burial.
But on Saturday he did call for revenge in a rare public message. "It is our certain and undeniable duty that this revenge be carried out," he said.
"We pledge to avenge your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs of these two [recent] wars by taking revenge against the criminal, disgraceful murderers," the Ayatollah also stated. "This vengeance is what our nation is demanding , and this must definitely be done."
He issued a series of statements tinged with Shia Islamic references. His words contain repeat vows to enacting vengeance, including this not so veiled threat to kill Iran's enemies :
As for the big picture of where things stand, University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape, who authors "The Escalation Trap ," has pointed out that that the millions of Iranians who took to the streets last week to attend the late Ayatollah's funeral demonstrate growing nationalist resolve. He explained that this only makes further escalation more likely later this summer, as public sentiment gets hardened against the US.
"The balance of military capabilities did not change over the weekend," Pape said . "The balance of political will shifted ."
Referencing the now unraveling ceasefire and negotiations process, Pape is predicting: "The pause appears to be another stage in the escalation process rather than the beginning of de-escalation ."
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 22:40 Close Sun, 12 Jul 2026 02:10:00 +0000 Next-Gen Ramjet Fuel Propulsion System For Future Offensive, Defensive Missions Tested
Next-Gen Ramjet Fuel Propulsion System For Future Offensive, Defensive Missions Tested
Next-Gen Ramjet Fuel Propulsion System For Future Offensive, Defensive Missions Tested
Authored by Prabhat Ranjan Mishra via Interesting Engineering ,
L3Harris has taken a significant step toward advancing next-generation propulsion technology for future offensive and defensive missions.
The approach marks an essential risk reduction step in enabling solid fuel ramjet propulsion to help close a critical performance, and cost gap. (Representational image) The company revealed that a recent test demonstrated progress toward a high-performance, lower-cost propulsion option. The test also met the Department of War's goal to provide superior advanced weapon systems, at affordable mass, that will outpace adversaries and expand the range of solutions available to the warfighter.
"This test is an important step in proving solid fuel ramjet propulsion can deliver the speed, range and affordability our customers need ," said Scott Alexander, President, Missile Propulsion, L3Harris.
"We are reducing risk now so we can move faster toward a scalable capability for the warfighter."
Full-Scale Test Of New Solid Fuel Ramjet Fuel Grain
L3Harris highlighted that the event marked the company's first full-scale test of a new solid fuel ramjet fuel grain specially formulated to significantly reduce the cost of fuel when compared to historical industry standards.
During the ground test, the team ignited and operated the system in a direct connect flight-representative environment, allowing engineers to evaluate performance across a large portion of the simulated flight envelope. Initial results showed propulsion levels were consistent with expectations for flight operation, giving the team valuable data as it continues to refine the design towards tactical missile system demonstration, according to a press release.
Disciplined Approach Marks An Essential Risk Reduction
This test event helps validate key performance characteristics as L3Harris accelerates towards flight testing, and this disciplined approach marks an essential risk reduction step in enabling solid fuel ramjet propulsion to help close a critical performance and cost gap for the U.S. military and allies.
"We are answering the Department of War's call for longer-reach, more capable, lower-cost propulsion that is producible at the scale needed," said Joel Warhurst, Director, Business Development, L3Harris.
"We are designing for manufacturing, performance and production capacity with a straightforward goal of more speed, more range at a cost point that supports affordable mass. "
With additional ground testing planned, the company is moving quickly from test data and refinement to tactical missile flight demonstration - advancing a propulsion solution designed for the speed, scale and affordability future missions will require, as per the release.
The latest test also demonstrates the company's expanding expertise in advanced propulsion technologies following its acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne's missile propulsion business. By combining propulsion innovation with modern manufacturing techniques, L3Harris aims to accelerate the delivery of next-generation missile systems to military customers.
As global defense requirements continue to evolve, advanced ramjet propulsion is expected to play a crucial role in future missile systems by providing higher sustained speeds, extended engagement ranges, and improved survivability against sophisticated air defense networks. The successful demonstration positions L3Harris as one of the key industry players working to advance high-speed propulsion technologies for future operational needs.
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 22:10 Close Sun, 12 Jul 2026 01:35:00 +0000 California Ex-Police Official Tops State Payroll With $1.2 Million Payday
California Ex-Police Official Tops State Payroll With $1.2 Million Payday
Former Redlands Police Deputy Chief Travis Martinez received nearly $1.2 million in wages in 2025, the highest reported compensation for any city employee in
Read more.....
California Ex-Police Official Tops State Payroll With $1.2 Million Payday
Former Redlands Police Deputy Chief Travis Martinez received nearly $1.2 million in wages in 2025, the highest reported compensation for any city employee in California, according to newly released data from the State Controller's Office and reporting by the New York Post .
Payroll records show Martinez collected $81,804 in regular pay, $890,467 in other compensation and $231,099 in lump-sum payments before retiring in April. The city also contributed roughly $55,900 toward his retirement and health benefits, bringing his total compensation package to about $1.26 million.
The State Controller's Office publishes annual payroll data for public employees, while public records compiled by Transparent California identified the employee as Martinez.
The Post writes that according to the Orange County Register , the unusually large payout stemmed from a settlement that resolved a lengthy dispute between Martinez and the city. He had been on paid administrative leave for about 18 months before retiring in April 2025. As part of the agreement, Martinez retired and dropped a legal claim against the city in exchange for a settlement reportedly worth about $872,000.
In a 2023 claim, Martinez alleged city officials retaliated against him after he reported what he described as misconduct within the police department. Among other allegations, he said he raised concerns about efforts to conceal evidence related to a fatal Metrolink train crash and reported claims of sexual misconduct involving then-Deputy Chief Mike Reiss to the FBI after concluding the matter was not being properly addressed internally.
Martinez remained on paid leave until his retirement. Separately, allegations against Reiss have resulted in multiple legal settlements for the city. Reiss retired in 2023 after being accused of grooming and sexually harassing several department employees, while former Police Chief Chris Catren retired days earlier, denying any connection to the controversy.
Over the past three years, Redlands has approved more than $3.3 million in settlements related to sexual harassment lawsuits involving Reiss. In his legal filing, Martinez described his 29-year career as exemplary and alleged he was repeatedly denied promotions because he refused to overlook misconduct within the department.
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 21:35 Close Sun, 12 Jul 2026 01:00:00 +0000 Congressman Outraged After Brief Detention By Gun-Wielding Israeli Settlers In West Bank Visit
Congressman Outraged After Brief Detention By Gun-Wielding Israeli Settlers In West Bank Visit
Congressman Outraged After Brief Detention By Gun-Wielding Israeli Settlers In West Bank Visit
Via The Cradle
A group of extremist Jewish settlers equipped with US-made M4 rifles detained US lawmaker Ro Khanna and his group during their visit this week to the southern occupied West Bank, the Democratic representative has disclosed.
"We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed; they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it," Khanna told Reuters on Thursday. "And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road ." Khanna said, adding, "And then they call the IDF and ?the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans ."
via Reuters Khanna's aide, Cameron Kasky, said the delegation was held for over an hour near Khirbet Zanuta , a Palestinian hamlet ethnically cleansed by Israeli settlers in 2023, before appealing to the US Embassy in Jerusalem to free them .
Khanna's visit to the occupied West Bank comes as support for Israel splits Democrats ahead of the US midterm elections in November, with the issue contributing to primary defeats for incumbent lawmakers financed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Israel's favorability rating among Democratic voters has fallen from 59 percent in 2018 to 22 percent in May 2026, according to recent polls.
The US lawmaker's confrontation with extremist settler groups occurs amid a broader campaign of state-supported settler violence that, by mid-2026, has escalated into systematic ethnic cleansing and land theft in the occupied West Bank.
As of July 2026, illegal settler outposts effectively control 18 percent of the occupied West Bank, following an "unprecedented" expansion directly backed by the Israeli government.
Former Israeli officials have characterized the current escalation as a "systematic campaign" of "Jewish terrorism " intended to facilitate de facto annexation of the Palestinian territories.
An Oxfam analysis based on UN data revealed that since 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,244 Palestinians, exceeding the total from the previous 17 years combined, and forcibly displaced nearly 46,000 people.
Over 540 settler attacks were reported in the first quarter of 2026 alone, alongside a record 925 movement obstacles that restrict Palestinian life.
Amnesty International concluded , based on independent investigations, that the Israeli government is implementing a policy of ethnic cleansing, supported by digital evidence, satellite imagery, and field investigations.
* * *
More of Rep. Khanna's account of what happened...
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 21:00 Close Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:25:00 +0000 Guggenheim AI Survey Finds Adoption Surging Across Large IT Enterprises As Mass Layoff Fears Fall Flat
Guggenheim AI Survey Finds Adoption Surging Across Large IT Enterprises As Mass Layoff Fears Fall Flat
Building on Goldman's estimate that AI adoption across corporate America currently stands at roughly 20.6% and could rise to 24%
Read more.....
Guggenheim AI Survey Finds Adoption Surging Across Large IT Enterprises As Mass Layoff Fears Fall Flat
Building on Goldman's estimate that AI adoption across corporate America currently stands at roughly 20.6% and could rise to 24% by year-end, a Guggenheim Securities survey of 150 large-enterprise IT professionals found that 81% of respondents have already deployed AI agents. Anthropic and OpenAI are leading adoption among AI-native platforms, reinforcing the view that the enterprise chatbot and frontier-model battle is increasingly becoming a two-pony race.
The survey found that enterprise adoption of AI is quickly accelerating, with 81% of respondents already deploying chatbots.
About 42% of employees actively use AI for roughly 22% of the workday, resulting in an estimated 18% productivity gain.
According to respondents, AI accounts for an average of roughly 19% of corporate IT budgets, with spending concentrated in software development, data analytics, and IT operations. About half of respondents expect AI to become a separate budget line, while 37% of those firms plan to fund it in part through incremental spending beyond existing IT allocations.
The survey also provided more evidence of token cost concerns among respondents:
On average, respondents anticipate that AI will have a positive impact on their company's operating margin. Furthermore, respondents anticipate this impact to accelerate to 3.1% in 2027. We also note that our data indicates more respondents anticipate mid-to-high single- digit decreases in 2027 vs. 2026, which may be indicative of token costs outweighing realized benefits from AI adoption. With that being said, this is still significantly outweighed by an anticipated benefit from AI.
Recall the recent tokenmaxxing fiasco and the mysterious $500 million Claude bill, Uber capping AI coding spend after burning through its entire 2026 agentic budget in just four months, and UBS checks showing token costs have become a live issue for roughly 60% of enterprise customers . One company received its first AI invoice and heard leadership respond bluntly: "We don't have the money for this."
Related:
On headcount, respondents reported an average 2.5% reduction tied to AI, far from the apocalyptic mass-layoff forecasts that dominated headlines earlier this year.
Marc Andreessen recently dismissed the narrative of sweeping AI-driven job cuts as "fake," and Guggenheim's findings lend some support to that view: AI is improving productivity and easing labor constraints, but it has yet to trigger mass layoffs.
Here are more AI adoption trends across the corporate world, offered in a recent note by Goldman analyst Sarah Dong...
Read here.
However, JPMorgan takes a different view of the AI adoption trend.
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 20:25 Close Sat, 11 Jul 2026 23:50:00 +0000 DARPA's Chilling Pre-COVID Blueprint: Predict, Manufacture, & Deploy Pandemics On Demand
DARPA's Chilling Pre-COVID Blueprint: Predict, Manufacture, & Deploy Pandemics On Demand
DARPA's Chilling Pre-COVID Blueprint: Predict, Manufacture, & Deploy Pandemics On Demand
Authored by Jon Fleetwood Substack
A sprawling, multi-institution effort for "predicting" future pathogen characteristics, developing vaccines "in advance of need," and building the very systems intended to validate those predictions.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) spent the early 2010s constructing what may have been the most ambitious predictive vaccine-development infrastructure ever attempted: a sprawling, multi-institution effort designed to determine the future characteristics of purported pathogens before they emerged and ultimately use those predictions to develop drugs and vaccines before they were needed.
The program, known as PROPHECY —short for Pathogen Defeat—was announced in 2010 under Broad Agency Announcement DARPA-BAA-10-93 and was managed by DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.
DARPA itself described the vaccine-centric purpose of the program unambiguously.
According to the agency: “The Prophecy (Pathogen Defeat) program will explore the evolution of viruses in the hopes of predicting viral mutations and ultimately developing drugs and vaccines in advance of need.”
The effort was not limited to coronaviruses, influenza, or any other single disease category.
DARPA repeatedly stated that the goal was understanding: “the natural evolution of any virus.”
The result was a massive architecture that brought together machine learning researchers, statisticians, bioinformaticians, computational biologists, laboratory scientists, surveillance specialists, universities, contractors, and national laboratories into a single “predictive” framework.
Yesterday, this website reported that DARPA’s PROPHECY program expanded into the laboratory of coronavirus researcher Ralph Baric years before the COVID-19 pandemic and nearly a decade before the DARPA/DEFUSE proposal documented all three defining structural features of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein prior to the outbreak.
DARPA Wanted to Turn Vaccine Development from Reactive to Predictive
DARPA openly believed that existing vaccine development operated backwards.
The agency described the modern pharmaceutical model as: “observational and reactive.”
PROPHECY was intended to replace that model with one that was: “predictive and preemptive.”
Rather than waiting for future purported disease threats to appear before beginning the process of characterization and countermeasure development, DARPA sought systems capable of determining the characteristics of future pathogen populations in advance.
Everything in PROPHECY flowed from that objective.
Building the Blueprint Before the Pathogen
DARPA’s ambitions extended far beyond outbreak forecasting.
The agency stated: “DARPA seeks to achieve the ability to successfully predict the natural evolution of any virus, via platforms and algorithms which are capable of monitoring rare advantageous viral events…”
The program sought systems capable of determining:
future mutations,
future reassortments,
future genetic events,
the order in which mutations would emerge,
genotype-to-phenotype relationships,
and ultimately the characteristics of future pathogen populations.
DARPA acknowledged: “there is at present no reliable capability to predict viral reassortment or mutations responsible for the emergence of new viral strains.”
Its proposed solution was: “An investigative platform to predict mutations and possibly reassortments in advance of their occurrence.”
The agency further explained that PROPHECY sought: “predictive algorithms of viral evolution that are informed and validated experimentally using high throughput biological platforms…” and: “the integration of a viral evolution platform with an algorithm that predicts mutations which confer an evolutionary advantage to the viral population.”
Among the formal requirements of the program was the ability to: “reproducibly predict the genomic, proteomic, and/or functional attributes of the final viral population.”
DARPA also sought to determine: “the rate and order of mutation acquisition” as well as: “the correlation of genotype to phenotype.”
The objective was not merely individual mutations.
It was the endpoint population itself.
Prediction Was Only the First Layer
PROPHECY was never designed to stop at prediction.
DARPA required participants to construct what it called: “biological validation systems”
The BAA instructed performers to: “Perform a ‘real world’ test of the predictive algorithm and biological validation system…”
The purpose of that exercise was to determine whether researchers could: “reproducibly predict the genomic, proteomic, and/or functional attributes of the ending viral population.”
DARPA further instructed participants to: “develop a research strategy and solicit collaborations from partners” that would assist in: “applying their predictive methodology to surveillance data from the real world.”
The architecture described by PROPHECY therefore extended beyond prediction alone.
The program sought to construct systems capable not only of generating future pathogen blueprints, but also of attempting to validate those predictions experimentally and through subsequent observational frameworks.
Bottom Line
Amid COVID-19 debates, public attention has focused on later programs such as DEFUSE, ADEPT, pandemic mRNA platforms, and Operation Warp Speed.
But PROPHECY confirms that by 2010, DARPA was openly attempting to build a generalized predictive infrastructure capable of deciding the future characteristics of purported pathogens, using those predictions to enable drugs and vaccines in advance, and constructing systems intended to validate those predictions experimentally and through later observational frameworks.
Most importantly, the effort was never intended for a single disease.
PROPHECY sought to build this capability for: “any virus.”
Whether viewed as predictive biodefense, anticipatory genomics, preemptive countermeasure development, or something else, the architecture described by DARPA followed a remarkably consistent sequence:
vaccines as the objective;
future pathogen blueprints as the enabling technology;
“validation” systems as the final layer.
That architecture may ultimately prove to be one of the most consequential and least understood developments in the history of modern biodefense research.
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 19:50 Close Sat, 11 Jul 2026 23:15:00 +0000 DHS Deports Convicted Child Rapist Gov. Tim Walz Pardoned
DHS Deports Convicted Child Rapist Gov. Tim Walz Pardoned
The Department of Homeland Security deported Tou Lue Vang on Friday, the Laotian national Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pardoned last month in an effort to keep him in the
Read more.....
DHS Deports Convicted Child Rapist Gov. Tim Walz Pardoned
The Department of Homeland Security deported Tou Lue Vang on Friday, the Laotian national Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pardoned last month in an effort to keep him in the country.
Vang, 42, entered the United States illegally and built a life in Minnesota that included, by his own admission, sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct after admitting he abused the girl over four years, starting in 2002. When police arrested him in 2005, he offered no denial. Instead, he told investigators that marrying and having sex with girls as young as 12 was a cultural practice.
The Department of Homeland Security said Vang also offered his victim $10 to stay quiet while the abuse continued.
By pleading guilty, Vang avoided prison, but lost legal status. A judge issued him a final removal order in October 2006, and under any normal enforcement regime, that would have been the end of the story. Instead, Vang stayed in the country for nearly two decades, until Trump administration agents caught up with him last year through Operation Metro Surge, a Minnesota-based immigration enforcement effort.
Records show Vang applied for a pardon in July 2025, anticipating his inevitable deportation. Walz granted it through the state's three-member pardon board , which also includes Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. The pardon wiped Vang's conviction from his record entirely.
"The Minnesota Board of Pardons made a unanimous decision to grant Tou Vang this pardon after an exhaustive process which included a statement of support for the pardon from the victim, a recommendation to grant the pardon from the Clemency Review Commission and a large number of community support letters," Ellison's office said in a statement.
The New York Times noted that Democratic governors "have long faced scrutiny for pardoning immigrants with criminal records who have served their sentences, in an effort to slow or halt their deportations. They often weigh a number of factors as part of their decision, including the severity of the crime," and added that "Mr. Vang's situation is notable in that it involves a sex offense against a child, a type of crime that is widely reviled."
The Department of Homeland Security condemned the decision to pardon him.
"These are the criminal illegal aliens [Walz] and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting," Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. "Tou Lue Vang lost his legal status following his conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl."
While the pardon effectively removed the conviction that was the basis for his deportation, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that ICE had taken Vang into custody and removed him from the United States despite the efforts of Walz and Ellison.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the arrest himself in a video posted to X. "Just weeks ago, a convicted sex offender and a foreign national was shielded from deportation by the Governor of Minnesota, " Rubio said. "Laotian national Tou Lue Vang was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in the state of Minnesota. He even tried to pay his victim for her silence. And he called his heinous crimes a minor thing." Rubio noted the pardon came "just days before this foreign sex offender was scheduled to be deported," and said Walz "issued him a pardon setting him free to once again endanger the children of America." He described the response in plain terms. "This week I revoked his legal status in the United States and as a result, federal agents took him into custody. And as of today, he has been removed from the United States. Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again." Rubio closed with a broader point about the arrangement voters are being asked to accept. "Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country. This administration will always stand with the American people and defend them from violent criminals."
The White House was even more blunt. "This case exposes the depravity of the Radical Left: they will literally pardon child rapists and defy federal law to protect criminal illegals," it said in a Friday statement.
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 19:15 Close Sat, 11 Jul 2026 22:40:00 +0000 The Real Grid Crisis Is A State Policy Problem Dressed Up As A Market Failure
The Real Grid Crisis Is A State Policy Problem Dressed Up As A Market Failure
The Real Grid Crisis Is A State Policy Problem Dressed Up As A Market Failure
Authored by Todd Snitchler via RealClearEnergy ,
There's a critique of PJM making the rounds: PJM - the largest grid operator in the United States - is too big. There are too many state interests at play, and PJM doesn't have the ability to function cohesively or quickly enough. FERC even scheduled a governance technical conference this month to examine whether PJM's stakeholder structure can move fast enough to respond to demand. The reality is that policy disagreements at the state level are dressed up as a procedural defect with the grid, opening the way for critics to point their reforms at the wrong target.
Disagreements at the state level are just what you'd expect, pitting those that generate enough power to export against those that depend on imports. Pennsylvania is PJM's energy workhorse , shipping out roughly a quarter of everything it generates. Illinois, West Virginia, and Michigan also produce more than they consume. The others - Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware - are net importers, and increasingly so as data centers expand across their footprints.
Exporters like Pennsylvania that are rich in nuclear, gas, and coal generation have fundamentally different interests in capacity pricing and transmission cost allocation from an importer state, which has restricted natural gas development, leaned hard into renewables, or joined an ambitious emission reduction program. When Virginia pulls in more expensive power from its neighbors, or when Maryland absorbs double-digit rate hikes, that isn't a governance failure - it's the market doing its job by revealing the cost of divergent state policy preferences (and thus resource access).
These state policy preferences are then lobbed at the market and its participants to respond to, whether by prematurely retiring generation, relying on tax subsidies, or simply building generation that is more expensive per megawatt when compared against traditional baseload fuels.
PJM is actively working to continue the evolution of the market to meet the demand of today and the future. It has cleared more than 60% of its interconnection backlog under a reformed study process and opened a new study cycle this spring in partnership with Google to apply AI to speed up the review process. A separate PJM program, the Reliability Resource Initiative , pulled in more than 11,000 MW of new projects that could come online quickly . PJM has also adjusted its review processes to allow more wind, solar, and storage to compete directly in the capacity auction. It's even accepted a price collar through 2030, demonstrating that it is willing to make short-term adjustments in response to concerns by state executives.
More than 46,000 MW of approved projects - over a quarter of PJM's existing capacity - already hold the right to build but are unable to move forward. Some 37,000 MW of PJM-approved generation can't even break ground at all because of state and local permitting fights. At the same time, state policy mandates have pushed working plants into early retirement, further tightening supply from the other end. The same governors demanding faster action are often the ones holding the permits and slow-walking the buildout of energy infrastructure while forcing closures of dispatchable power.
PJM is not too big. It has demonstrated time and again that it can run a competitive power market and ensure the reliable transportation of power across 13 very varied states and the District of Columbia. It's been successfully doing this for more than 30 years, delivering $5 billion in savings annually to customers, just as it was designed to do. It's accelerated the queue and kept the lights on. What the market cannot do is permit projects or draft legislation. States must recognize their role in restricting the full benefits of the market.
Asking PJM to continue navigating these policy issues in the same manner - trying to respond to all of them - is a recipe for disaster. The states are absolutely responsible for chucking icebergs into the path of this ship, and if it goes down, they'll have themselves to blame for the aftermath.
Todd Snitchler is President and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA ).
Tyler Durden Sat, 07/11/2026 - 18:40 Close
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