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Fri, 20 Mar 2026 03:30:00 +0000 The Ultimate Race Hoax
The Ultimate Race Hoax
The Ultimate Race Hoax
Authored by Scott Greer via American Greatness ,
It was a case that captured the nation’s attention 20 years ago . In March of 2006, a black stripper accused three members of Duke University’s nearly all-white lacrosse team of rape. The only evidence for the crime was her own testimony, which changed repeatedly. It didn’t matter that every other eyewitness disputed the rape claim . An opportunistic district attorney, a vengeful cop, a feminist nurse, and a ravenous media were all ready to believe the Duke lacrosse rape, and that was enough to make it “truth” in the public eye for much of 2006.
The Duke lacrosse hoax offered a preview of America’s coming social conflicts in the age of woke. Imagined racial grievance, feminism, and belief in “white privilege” all fueled this story. The media was all too eager to buy it. Journalists wanted to believe it was true to show that white men are the real menace to society. It was a story too “good” to pass up. It was also a story too “good” to be true.
No lessons were learned from the Duke lacrosse case. We would see similar lies play out with Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Rolling Stone ’s infamous “A Rape on Campus” story. While District Attorney Mike Nifong paid a high price for his reckless pursuit of the case, the media and activists who aided him suffered no real consequences. Hate hoaxes would flourish as a result.
The story is best explained by the 2007 book, Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case
The tale begins with a bored group of youth looking to entertain themselves while stuck on campus during spring break . The lacrosse team, unlike other Duke students, couldn’t vacation with the time off. They had games and practice during the holiday, leaving them in Durham. To blow off steam, the team decided to hire strippers for a party. Too many of their teammates were underage and couldn’t go to a strip club, so they decided to bring the entertainment to a house where a bunch of lacrosse players lived. They requested two strippers, one of whom was Crystal Mangum.
Mangum was a disturbed woman with a rap sheet and a history of mental illness and substance abuse . She had even made up a gang rape allegation in the past. On the night of March 13, 2006, she showed up severely inebriated after a weekend of having sex with multiple men. She and the other stripper didn’t perform their duties well. The lacrosse men quickly became disgusted with their antics and regretted the $800 they had spent on the night’s entertainment. The guys argued with the other stripper, Kim Roberts, over what was happening. Tempers flared, and Roberts decided to leave with Mangum, who could barely stand on her own. Roberts called the lacrosse guys “short-dicked white boys,” which prompted one of them to call her the n-word. That action would be used to establish the entire lacrosse team as deranged racists.
Roberts would call the police on the lacrosse team over the slur, claiming she was just passing by the house when they began calling her names. She drove away with Mangum, who was too intoxicated to communicate properly. Roberts took her passenger to a local grocery store and got security to call 911 on the disturbed Mangum. When taken to the hospital, Mangum faced the possibility of being involuntarily committed. But she found her opportunity to avoid that fate when she was asked by a nurse if she had been raped. She replied yes, which gave her a ticket out of involuntary commitment.
Thus began the rape hoax. The examining nurse was a feminist activist who fully believed Mangum’s story and found enough evidence to support the theory due to evidence of sexual activity. However, there was no evidence of physical harm done to her. Her word, supported by the feminist nurse, was enough to get police involved. The case was taken up by Durham police sergeant Mark Gottlieb, an officer with a notorious reputation for going hard on Duke students. Administrators had even requested that Gottlieb be reassigned due to his harsh crusade against students.
But this would be the man who investigated the case, and he was committed to proving these privileged lacrosse players had committed an unspeakable crime. Gottlieb was even willing to rig the evidence to fit the picture he wanted to paint. He would later write “supplemental case notes” months after the event took place to make them seem like they were taken right at the beginning of the investigation. This is just one example of his dubious practices that would be used to crucify the lacrosse players.
Gottlieb’s behavior, however, looks like that of an Eagle Scout compared to DA Mike Nifong. Nifong is the true villain in this story . He was the interim Durham County DA in 2006, filling out the rest of the term of the previous officeholder who had been appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court. He was given that appointment under the assumption he would not run for a full term. He instead decided to run for a full term anyway. Things did not look good for Nifong’s chances to keep the job in early March 2006 . The Duke lacrosse case offered him a lifeline. The racially charged case allowed the white lawyer to win over black voters in the diverse district. He tied his political survival to Mangum’s tall tale. It would help him win the election, but at the price of his disbarment and removal from office in the following year.
Nifong immediately condemned the Duke lacrosse team in public, calling them a “bunch of hooligans” and saying it was his mission to prevent Durham from being known as a place where “a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke rap[ed] a black girl.” His over-the-top comments were taken as scripture by the press, which incited a frenzy to declare these young men guilty of rape. Nancy Grace was one of the worst offenders. Night after night, Grace and other cable news hosts would insist these lacrosse players committed an evil, racist act against an innocent black girl. Mangum went from a mentally ill, drug-addled criminal to a hardworking mom and model college student in the media.
There was a strong desire to believe that preppy white boys were out raping innocent black women. It’s a case one would find depicted regularly on Law & Order and other popular movies and TV shows. The myth mattered more than reality.
Several Duke professors and left-wing students embraced the story. In an ad in the student newspaper, 88 professors endorsed a message that claimed the elite university was a hotbed of racial and sexual violence. Many of these professors would go on to punish lacrosse players in their classes with bad grades and insulting comments. Faculty were at the forefront of decrying the “white privilege” and “systemic racism” that allegedly emboldened these white men to rape a black woman. Virtually none of these professors would apologize for their rush to judgment after the case fell apart.
Mangum’s story was fishy from the beginning. Roberts, her fellow stripper, called the story a “crock” when initially questioned by police. Mangum showed no signs of bruising and was only alone by herself in the house for a few minutes. Her description of her attackers didn’t match anyone on the lacrosse team. She claimed three short, chubby men assaulted her. The three who were eventually charged did not match her descriptions. Her story imagined the event was a bachelor party, complete with her assailants referencing a wedding the next day. None of that was true. She also kept changing the story, adding more participants, alleging more physical force on her, and other new details each time she retold the story. It was obvious she couldn’t keep her story straight. But Nifong, Durham’s black community, and the national media chose to believe her anyway.
Mangum could not even consistently identify the three suspects in photo lineups. The three charged players—David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann—were basically chosen at random. Seligmann and Finnerty had alibis putting them outside of the house when the alleged rape could have occurred. That didn’t matter. They were still charged with the bogus crime.
Durham’s black community was incensed by the rape allegation. Numerous threats of violence were issued against Duke students, with even a few assaults occurring against white students by local blacks. One of the accused, Reade Seligmann, had to drive away from a local car wash after attendees recognized him and began violent gestures at him. Some local activists didn’t even care whether the players were innocent or not. They felt they should go to prison anyway as payback for all the allegedly innocent black men who went to jail. The NAACP was heavily involved in the case and pressured the judges to issue gag orders to prevent the truth from coming out about the players’ innocence.
But the truth finally did come out, slowly but surely. 60 Minutes , in contrast to much of the media, conducted a thorough investigation of the case in the fall of 2006, including interviewing the accused. The CBS show discovered that the case was filled with holes, and it was likely a hoax. But it still took months for the accused to be absolved. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper eventually dismissed the case and declared the lacrosse players innocent in April of 2007.
While the players were accused of stonewalling investigators, they in fact did the opposite. Ever since the criminal investigation was launched, players fully cooperated, provided DNA, and even were willing to subject themselves to polygraph tests. Their story remained consistent and clear throughout the ordeal, unlike Crystal Mangum’s. But due to the motivations of others, it still took over a year to definitively rule that the players were innocent.
Fortunately, Nifong’s career was ruined by the case, and he even spent a short time in jail for his behavior. Mangum avoided charges of filing a false police report due to her mental illness, but would later serve a lengthy jail sentence for murdering a boyfriend. She was released from prison earlier this month . In 2024, she finally admitted she made up the whole thing.
The damage was already done when three innocent men were falsely accused and charged with a crime. The truth coming out only prevented further injustice. It didn’t wipe away what had already been done.
The worst part is how this story kept being repeated over the coming years. America bought the lie about Trayvon Martin and how he was an innocent black boy shot in the back. We experienced riots over the Michael Brown lie, with millions falsely believing he had his hands up when he was shot. Countless numbers of young men had their lives ruined during the 2010s campus rape hysteria, most notably culminating in Rolling Stone ’s libelous “A Rape on Campus.” Our whole country was torn apart by the mythology surrounding George Floyd’s death.
Sometimes the truth emerged in these cases, just like it did with the Duke lacrosse hoax . But many still chose to believe the lies over the truth. The former supported their prejudices about our society, while the latter undermined them. It’s why hate hoaxes kept being perpetuated and believed. The Left and the media wanted to believe that evil white racists are doing terrible things to minorities on a regular basis. The demand for these cases far outstripped the supply of actual occurrences.
Thanks to social media and the decline of the establishment media, it’s harder for such a hoax to go unchallenged. But the desire to believe such nonsense is still present within our society. Belief in white privilege and systemic racism is much more mainstream than it was in 2006. We will still see hoaxes promoted to demonize middle America and support calls for change.
It’s up to conservatives to ensure these hoaxes are quickly debunked. We can’t trust the mainstream media to do the job.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 23:30 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 03:05:00 +0000 Pakistan Outraged At Being Called An Emerging Missile Threat To US By DNI Gabbard
Pakistan Outraged At Being Called An Emerging Missile Threat To US By DNI Gabbard
The US declared Pakistan a major non-NATO ally all the way back in 2004, but relations have soured at various points since then. But given Pakistan do
Read more.....
Pakistan Outraged At Being Called An Emerging Missile Threat To US By DNI Gabbard
The US declared Pakistan a major non-NATO ally all the way back in 2004, but relations have soured at various points since then. But given Pakistan does indeed remain a close regional ally, which is also nuclear-armed, the country is outraged at Wednesday's Senate Intelligence hearing wherein Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard raised some eyebrows over a new 'missile threat'.
She for the first named the South Asian country along with Russia and others in the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment Report, citing that Pakistan's missile program could be a future threat to the Untied States .
"Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland within range ," Gabbard told the intelligence committee.
She then specified: "Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the homeland."
Pakistan ballistic missile, file image/Arab News While other countries listed - especially Iran and North Korea have long been named by US officials as 'rogue' actors or else part of an 'axis of evil' (going back to the Bush era) - this appears to be the first time Pakistan was openly named in such a high-level annual briefing before Congress. Perhaps Washington is thinking that the conservative Islamic country is just 'one coup away' from becoming highly dangerous .
Gabbard also described more broadly the South Asian region as a place of "enduring security challenges" - warning that India-Pakistan relations "remain a risk for nuclear conflict." At the moment, Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan under the Taliban are in a state of active hot war, though there have been reports of a shaky ceasefire.
Pakistan is angry at being singled out, and has communicated its objections to Washington :
On Thursday, Tahir Andrabi, spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "Pakistan categorically rejects the recent assertion by a United States official alleging a potential threat from Pakistan’s missile capabilities."
Pakistan's strategic capabilities are "exclusively defensive" in nature, he said, and are "aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty and maintaining peace and stability in South Asia."
The foreign ministry official further explained, "Pakistan’s missile program, which remains well below intercontinental range, is firmly rooted in the doctrine of credible minimum deterrence vis-a-vis India. In contrast, India’s development of missile capabilities exceeding 12,000 kilometres [7,460 miles] reflects a trajectory that extends beyond regional security considerations and is certainly a cause of concern for the neighborhood and beyond."
At times in the last couple decades, the US has accused Pakistan of cooperating with terrorists, and for failing to reign in ISIS-type operatives in its restive northwest province - a region which has long proven a headache for the whole region.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 23:05 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 02:40:00 +0000 Why Is Australia Not Already Rationing Fuel?
Why Is Australia Not Already Rationing Fuel?
Why Is Australia Not Already Rationing Fuel?
Authored by 'Fast Eddy' via 'The World according to Fast Eddy' substack,
I’m an Australian Wholesale Fuel Trader
An insider's explanation of what is going on...
The commentary below was lifted from a Reddit post.
Other than the issues I have already raised in previous articles How Is Iran Blocking and Mining Hormuz? And so it begins.... the question I am asking after reading this analysis is:
Why is Australia Not Already Rationing Fuel?
I’m the pricing, sales and trading guy at one of Australia’s fuel importers. It’s been an insane two weeks on the trading and supply front, but now it’s the weekend and my brain is still wired running at 150%.
My partner asked me last night in detail to explain the overall situation. I thought I’d share my knowledge here and happy to answer questions. I’ll respond when I can throughout this weekend!
Note we don’t have any retail sites so I can’t really speak for retail fuel. I also obviously can’t share anything proprietary.
1. Australian fuel is 90% imported these days, mainly from Asia.
The Asia refiners are more competitive and have economies of scale that compete Australian refineries, that’s why most of our have closed. Australia for over a decade has not met the internationally agreed 90-day buffer of fuel reserves in the country, we sit a roughly 32 days of stock. This is the fault of both Labor and Liberal governments in the past. Note: it’s easy to store crude oil but much more difficult to store refined products like diesel and petrol, they are flammable and go off after a few months of sitting in a tank. It is very expensive to build brand new storage tanks, which is why no commercial personal is doing it - this is why we import so much oil throughput.
2. Not all crude oils are the same.
The Asian refineries are set up to refine medium sour crude (far more experienced chemical engineers, or Google, can give you more info of the API and Gravity ranges of crude oil types). This is mainly produced by the Middle East. It is very hard to replace this crude oil into the refineries at short notice. So it doesn’t matter how many barrels the US releases from its crude stock piles as that is a “light sweet crude” (and is prohibitively expensive on the ocean freight component). Asian refiners have been cancelling contracts and governments like Thailand and China are banning diesel and petrol exports to keep these critical fuels in their own countries. Therefore, it has gotten very expensive to source alternative cargos to supply Australia (something called the MOPS Premia has skyrocketed. So has backwardation).
The best analysis I am reading is a soon as the Middle East waterway (Strait of Hormuz) opens up, it will still be 1.5 to 2 months before the Asian refiners are running at full capacity again.
Ed: Australia - and I am sure most countries - do not have stored fuel that will last this long even with rationing.
The critical mining industry in Australia runs on diesel...
If this situation does not urgently get resolved, we will soon be dead men walking.
Meanwhile, the world sits on it’s hands watching and refusing to act.
Am I alone in thinking there is something wrong with this picture?
Note you can’t just shut down a refinery, these things are designed to run 24/7. Shutting down completely puts equipment at serious risk of damage, therefore refiners are choosing to run at say 50% capacity to delay to running out of crude oil feedstock and not damage refinery equipment.
3. While Brent crude has gone from say 70 to 100 USD/barrel (ie roughly 40%), refined products like diesel, petrol and jet fuel, have spiked far higher relatively speaking.
This mainly comes down to the regional supply and demand issues being experienced in Asia. Note Australian fuel is roughly priced as Singapore fuel + ocean freight + local costs. Therefore you can’t just take the increase in Brent crude (main type of crude oil) and assume that’s the increase in cost to the fuel that you buy. Diesel seems to be facing far worse supply constraints compared to petrol aka gasoline (and jet fuel even worse than that). I’ll link a great article at the end on why jet fuel is spiking so much more (it’s a free article on substack)
4. Regional Australia wholesale diesel All the oil majors (Mobil, BP, Ampol etc) are understandably holding onto their own product to keep supplying their own retail stations (this was the case last week at least).
They stopped selling in the wholesale market. The oil majors years ago largely exited regional Australia and delivery services to farms etc. Independent wholesale business filled in this gap. They do not import their own fuel, but rather buy on the wholesale spot market (where I sell to them), and therefore usually have no term supply guarantees from BP, Ampol etc. Given regional Australia still runs on diesel fuel for all farming, food transportation etc, this is why you hear regional Australia having a fuel crisis more than the cities. This is why I believe that the electrification of key transportation supply chains is critical for Australia’s future. So for Chris Bowen, our Energy Minister, saying he is working with the majors to secure more diesel that is dedicated/prioritised for regional communities, I have no idea how the government are practically going to pull that off (price caps? Allocated volume with some sort of government mandated fixed price? Who knows how it’ll work, but it sounds nice in a speech).
5. Conclusion/generic thoughts
This situation isn’t resolving itself anytime soon unfortunately. There is a saying commodity trading - “high prices cure high prices and low prices cure low prices”. When the price sky rockets, demand drops off where possible or supply is increased. When there’s super low prices, supply reduces as said suppliers can’t stay in business selling at those low prices. In this current high prices situation, supply can’t increase right now, so the only lever is to reduce demand. If the price is kept low by governments, demand would stay around, you would have no more supply coming into Australia, and you would eventually run out of fuel.
Neither is a good situation, but running out of fuel entirely is probably worse than having some fuel at a high price, which theoretically destroys some flexible demand.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 22:40 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 02:15:00 +0000 Comey Subpoenaed For Alleged 'Grand Conspiracy' Against Trump
Comey Subpoenaed For Alleged 'Grand Conspiracy' Against Trump
Former FBI Director James Comey has been slapped with a subpoena as part of a wide-ranging case against Obama-Biden-era officials who helped frame Donald
Read more.....
Comey Subpoenaed For Alleged 'Grand Conspiracy' Against Trump
Former FBI Director James Comey has been slapped with a subpoena as part of a wide-ranging case against Obama-Biden-era officials who helped frame Donald Trump is a Russian asset in a "grand conspiracy."
The grand jury subpoena, issued last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, focuses on Comey’s role in the preparation of the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that concluded Russia sought to influence the election in favor of Trump and against Hillary Clinton. The probe, which Trump allies have described as examining a “grand conspiracy” against the president, has issued more than 130 subpoenas in total, according to Axios
The investigation is being overseen by a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Fla., under U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon , a Trump appointee who previously presided over the classified-documents case against Trump that was dismissed in 2024. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason A. Reding Quiñones, a Trump appointee, is leading the effort.
Representatives for Comey declined to comment on the subpoena. The Justice Department doesn’t typically confirm or comment on ongoing grand-jury proceedings.
The move marks a significant escalation in scrutiny of Obama-era officials who were involved in the early stages of the Russia investigation, including the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane probe and the special counsel inquiry led by Robert Mueller. Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017 amid the Russia probe, has long been a central figure in debates over those investigations.
Democrats and former officials are pissed, of course, and have described it as politically motivated retribution against adversaries from the 2016 election cycle. Supporters argue it addresses unresolved questions about potential abuses of authority or procedural irregularities in how the Russia inquiries were conducted.
The Intelligence Community Assessment, which Comey helped oversee as FBI director, has been a point of contention for years. Trump allies have questioned aspects of its sourcing and conclusions, particularly regarding the inclusion of material related to the controversial Steele dossier.
This development unfolds against a backdrop of heightened political and legal tensions in Trump’s second term, with the Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi pursuing several high-profile reviews of prior administrations’ actions.
No charges have been announced in connection with the investigation, and it remains unclear what specific information prosecutors are seeking from Comey or how he intends to respond to the subpoena. Grand-jury proceedings are secret, and details are expected to emerge slowly, if at all, absent court filings or official disclosures.
The subpoena to Comey renews focus on one of the most divisive episodes in recent U.S. political and law-enforcement history, with potential implications for how past investigations are viewed and whether additional former officials will face similar demands.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 22:15 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:50:00 +0000 Disclosure? US Government Registers Aliens.gov Domain
Disclosure? US Government Registers Aliens.gov Domain
Disclosure? US Government Registers Aliens.gov Domain
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
The momentum behind President Trump’s drive to expose hidden UAP files continues to build, now underscored by fresh reminders of why such secrets have been buried for decades.
The Executive Office of the President has registered the aliens.gov domain, a quiet but unmistakable step toward a potential public portal for declassified materials on unidentified anomalous phenomena.
This follows Trump’s directive to release all related government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, UAP, and UFOs.
The New York Post has indicated that forthcoming disclosures “could include videos, photos of non-human craft proving we aren’t alone.”
As we previously covered, filmmaker Dan Farah also predicted on Joe Rogan’s podcast that Trump could declare humanity is not alone, confirming recovered non-human technology amid a secret global race.
We also previously highlighted former Bank of England analyst Helen McCaw’s warning to prepare for potential economic shock from disclosure, including market volatility and loss of institutional trust.
Now, with aliens.gov secured in the registry, the administration appears intent on forcing transparency where predecessors allowed compartmentalization to persist. Skeptics have dismissed accounts, but pilots, radar data, and credible military witnesses continue to describe phenomena that defy conventional explanations.
Trump’s approach—declassifying UAP records—prioritizes the public’s right to know over entrenched secrecy. Whether the domain launches as a full disclosure hub or not, the barriers are eroding. Americans, and the rest of the world, deserves the full picture on what has been observed in our skies, especially when it involves potential interference with critical defenses.
A former U.S. Air Force missile launch officer has reiterated claims that UFOs once rendered nuclear missiles inoperable at a key Cold War installation. Robert Salas, who served at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana in 1967, described the incident on the Danny Jones Podcast.
Salas urges that guards reported strange fast-moving lights that halted above the facility, followed by a craft with a reddish, pulsating glow hovering near the front gate. One guard was injured in the encounter.
Salas recounted how alarms then sounded in the underground control center: the launch panel showed one missile dropping offline, then the rest in rapid succession. “Within moments, all ten missiles at the site became inoperable,” Salas claims.
Security teams dispatched to the silos reportedly halted after seeing lights hovering overhead, too frightened to proceed. An official investigation could not identify the cause, despite the systems’ heavy shielding against external interference.
Salas and others were required to sign secrecy agreements afterward. He has spoken publicly in recent years, linking the event to similar reports of UAP interest in nuclear facilities.
VIDEO
This testimony aligns with patterns documented over decades: intrusions over restricted nuclear airspace that known technology could not match or explain. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has noted in prior comments, there have been “repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it’s not ours.”
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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 21:50 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:31:00 +0000 Netanyahu Declares Iran's Nuclear Program & Missile Production "Destroyed" - Denies Israel Influenced Trump
Netanyahu Declares Iran's Nuclear Program & Missile Production "Destroyed" - Denies Israel Influenced Trump
Netanyahu Declares Iran's Nuclear Program & Missile Production "Destroyed" - Denies Israel Influenced Trump
Summary
Netanyahu: Iran can no longer enrich Uranium; missile production destroyed ; says Israel acted alone against Pars oil field; claims Trump was not influenced by Israel to go to war.
F-35 stealth jet takes on Iranian fire, emergency landing : CNN
Trump dials up threat, seeking leverage, denies approving Israeli Pars strikes ; however, reports from The Wall Street Journal and Axios say the White House was aware. US sending more troops to region .
Energy war hits breaking point : Qatar's Ras Laffan damaged, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain sites attacked; Saudi trust in Iran "completely shattered." Iran's navy in the Caspian Sea reportedly destroyed. Missile strikes key Israeli refinery . Qatari PM confirms damage to 17% of Qatar's LNG export capacity for three to five years .
Iran signals not done exacting revenge : IRGC warns retaliation "not yet finished," vowing escalating strikes across region as Gulf states, Iraq, and shipping lanes absorb widening fallout.
Strait of Hormuz a de facto economic war zone as prices rise at the pump with oil spiraling higher: Iran's parliament is floating tolls on shipping - weaponizing control.
* * * Got Clean Water ?
Netanyahu: Iran Can No Longer Enrich Uranium; Missile Production Destroyed; Acted Against Pars Alone
In a rare wartime press conference, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu opened with a jab at rumors about his condition: “First of all… I’m alive." He went on to claim that Israel and the US are "protecting the entire Middle East… the entire world" - and after 20 days, he asserted: "we are winning, and Iran is being decimated." Netanyahu further claimed that Iran's missile and drone stockpiles are being "massively degraded" and "will be destroyed," framing the campaign as an all-out dismantling of Tehran’s capabilities. Bust most importantly he said production capability has been ended
He further addressed claims Israel dragged the US into war, calling it "fake news" and adding: "Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Donald Trump what to do? Come on." He praised tight US-Israel coordination: "We are achieving goals in lightning speed" - and said he and Trump "see eye to eye," adding the world "owes a debt… to President Trump for leading this effort." He also stated that Israel acted against Pars alone , but that he will hold off on ordering future such attacks without US consent. Netanyahu also said the war will end "much sooner than people think". And another key aspect to his remarks:
Iran No Longer Able to Enrich Uranium Iran Lost Ability to Manufacture Missiles
US, Israel Destroyed Iran’s Fleet in Caspian Sea
"What we're destroying now are the factories ?that produce the components to make these missiles and ?to make the nuclear weapons that they're trying to produce," ?Netanyahu said , however without providing evidence of the claim. Just before he spoke, Israel's military said it anticipates the anti-Iran campaign is only half complete .
Iran through its Foreign Minister has made clear on Thursday it will show "zero restraint" if energy infrastructure is targeted again . President Trump on the same day responded to reports the US has sent more troops to the region.
Europe's Top Naval Powers See No Short-Term Path To Reopening Hormuz Chokepoint
European leaders are resisting Trump administration pressure to send warships to shadow tankers through the Hormuz chokepoint, citing the heightened risk of Iranian attacks and the lack of a clear U.S. strategy, according to Bloomberg.
UK Defense Minister Al Carns was quoted by the outlet as saying discussions on warship escorts in the Strait of Hormuz are in the "very early stages."
Carns said allies are currently focused on "trying to conceptualize the totality of the problem and make sure that we've got a clear path toward the next stage."
He warned that the conflict in the Middle East is raging on. The risk is that warship escorts aren't enough to defend tankers from IRGC drone and missile attacks and naval mines. He said the situation requires a "deeply complex" multinational range of air, maritime, and strike capabilities.
UK Defense Secretary John Healey warned about Iranian naval mines in the Strait.
Earlier, President Trump said that Iran "is close to being demolished, the only thing is the strait: It's very hard. You could take two people and they could drop little bombs in the water, and they're holding things up."
A partially paralyzed Hormuz has also been compounded with Israeli attacks on Iranian upstream energy assets , as well as retaliatory attacks by the IRGC on Qatar's gas complex. Qatar has warned that its LNG export capacity could be severely hampered for years to come.
Qatar: Energy Strikes to Spark Serious Lasting Repercussions
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani confirmed on Thursday that there were no human casualties while assessing damages at the country's main LNG export hub, Ras Laffan, which was struck by Iranian missiles. He went on to angrily dismiss Iran's claim that it was actually targeting US bases, calling the narrative "rejected and unjustified" . Bloomberg: Iran's strikes to this field has damaged 17% of Qatar's LNG export capacity for three to five years. And a new alarming headline via Reuters:
QATARENERGY CEO TELLS REUTERS: WE MAY HAVE TO DECLARE FORCE MAJEURE ON LONG-TERM
CONTRACTS FOR UP TO FIVE YEARS FOR LNG SUPPLIES TO ITALY, BELGIUM, KOREA AND CHINA
US F-35 Hit By Iranian Fire, Damaged, In 1st of War
CNN is reporting that a US F-35 stealth fighter jet made an emergency landing at US air base in the Middle East, in an incident confirmed by the Pentagon.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said the advanced fighter was "flying a combat mission over Iran" when it was forced to make an emergency landing . CNN specifies it was based on taking fire from Iranian forces, while the Pentagon has been scant on details, only saying the warplane landed safely and the incident is under investigation.
"The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition," Hawkins said. "This incident is under investigation."
CNN underscores in its reporting, "The incident would be the first time Iran has hit a US aircraft in the war started in late February. Both the US and Israel are flying F-35s in the conflict; the aircraft costs upwards of $100 million ." However, March 1st saw three US F-16s go down over Kuwait, with six crew ejecting to safety, in what the Pentagon claimed was a 'friendly fire' incident. But it raised suspicions the Iranians shot them down.
One regional war correspondent notes : "The Haifa refinery (Bazan) is the country’s largest and most critical fuel facility, supplying about 50–60% of national fuel (˜60% diesel, 50% gasoline)."
Pentagon: Operations Destroyed Whole Iranian Fleet in Caspian Sea; Key Israeli Refinery Struck
Hegseth announced in a Thursday morning Pentagon briefing that the US military - presumably alongside Israel - has completely destroyed Iran's submarine fleet and significantly damaged the military ports of the Islamic Republic.
We reported earlier that Wednesday into overnight hours saw the first heavy Israeli attacks on vessels in the Caspian Sea, which marked a geographical expanse into the north. Meanwhile there are reports of a successful Iranian hit in the vicinity of Israel's Haifa oil refinery :
ISRAEL'S BAZAN OIL REFINERIES HIT IN IRAN MISSILE BARRAGE: N12
US Sending More Troops To Region, Eyes Ultra-Risky Kharg/Hormuz Op
There remain few (or no) options for guaranteeing tanker traffic through Hormuz. After the Pentagon bombed some 90 military sites on Iran's oil export hub Kharg Island last weekend, the US is running up against the obvious limitations of a purely air and naval campaign .
In a scenario that screams escalation, discussions now include deploying US troops directly to Iran's coastline to secure the passage , per Reuters been busy vowing 'no quagmire' .
Trump Threatens To "Massively Blow Up" South Pars, Tries To Distance US & Israel Ops
In a late-night Truth Social post, President Trump has once again cranked the rhetoric to eleven, warning he'll "massively blow up" Iran’s crown jewel gas field if Tehran dares hit Qatar’s LNG infrastructure again. Trump insisted the US "knew nothing" about Wednesday's Israeli strike on the shared South Pars field, claiming neither did Qatar, while simultaneously declaring "no more attacks will be made by Israel" there - unless Iran escalates.
Then came the kicker: "In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before," he wrote.
However, US media reports have been quick to say otherwise - that the US did actually know about it and greenlit the risky escalation . The Wall Street Journal reports the White House was aware - and also Axios' Barak Ravid insists so too, and he's seen as very close to the Israeli government.
Heavy Air War Ongoing Amid Potential Energy Point of No Return
Meanwhile, the Gulf is still being lit up by tit-for-tat major attacks on energy, as Western populations brace for severe impact at the gas pumps. Iran's retaliation is already hitting energy nodes across the region after Israel's Wednesday South Pars strike, pushing tensions with neighbors past a potential point of no return. Qatar quickly expelled Iranian military attaches after missiles caused "extensive damage" at Ras Laffan - its main LNG export hub, while Saudi officials say "the little trust that remained in Iran has been completely shattered."
AFP/Getty Images: Emirates aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport on March 16 The air war is continuing against Iran, with retaliatory strikes still raining down on Israel, but reportedly at slower pace when compared to the opening days of the war. A strike in western Iran's Dorud county reportedly killed at least a dozen civilians, Al Jazeera has reported.
Iran Signals No Signs Of Stopping Revenge Attacks
Tehran, however, is signaling the opposite of de-escalation, perhaps seeing Trump's latest Truth Social post claiming no foreknowledge of the Israeli attack on Pars as a sign of weakness . A spokesman for the IRGC Khatam has newly warned retaliation is "not yet finished," adding :
"We warn the enemy that you made a major mistake by attacking the energy infrastructure of … Iran… the next attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until their complete destruction ."
Kuwait: Iranian drones attacked one of the largest oil refineries, Al-Ahmadi Refinery .
The last 24 hours saw unprecedented destruction on key Gulf energy sites, summarized in the following :
Separately, UAE authorities said they were responding to incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and at the Bab oilfield caused by falling debris from intercepted missiles. The Abu Dhabi Media Office said the facilities were shut down and no injuries were reported. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles launched towards Riyadh on Wednesday and an attempted drone attack on a gas facility in its east. On Thursday, Iran targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain were also reported. Elsewhere, Iraq has shut its airspace, vessels are taking hits in the Gulf, with on Wednesday Trade Winds having reported: "A ship is on fire after being hit by an unknown projectile near the United Arab Emirates deepwater port of Khor Fakkan."
WTI-Brent Spread Explodes As U.S. Export Ban Priced In
RBC Capital Markets analyst Julian Triscott told clients, "Our boots on the ground in D.C. suggest the administration favors a crude export tariff over an outright ban, though a full ban remains a tail risk ."
Triscott said the Trump administration is likely weighing intervention in the oil market as gasoline and diesel prices at the pump surge, with a crude export tariff seen as more likely than an outright export ban, though the analyst said a full ban is still a major risk.
Triscott said the idea would be to shield U.S. consumers by making crude exports less attractive to foreign buyers, while potentially offsetting the impact with a pause or reduction in the federal fuel excise tax.
Triscott pointed out that traders are already beginning to price in this next intervention, with the WTI–Brent spread widening to its highest level since about 2012.
Triscott's conversation with sources in D.C. about what the Trump administration may do next to combat surging pump prices comes as the Trump administration appears to be following the six-option playbook laid out by JPMorgan analysts last week.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration waived the Jones Act to allow foreign vessels to ship crude to US ports. That was Option 3 on the list, while last week's SPR release was Option 1. Option 2 is export restrictions.
We suspect the administration is following the six-point playbook, and here's what may come next (read the report ).
Energy Market Shockwaves After Iranian Attacks on Gulf Energy Assets
Brent crude futures surged toward $120/bbl, while WTI remained muted around $96/bbl, as Wednesday marked a major escalation in the US-Iran conflict. Israeli fighter jets struck Iran's giant South Pars gas field with air-delivered munitions, triggering a retaliatory chain reaction in which IRGC forces targeted critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf.
Iranian drone and missile strikes caused heavy damage to Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG hub, while gas plants in Abu Dhabi shut down, Kuwaiti refineries were hit by drones, and Saudi refining assets on the Red Sea were targeted.
Unlike temporary shipping disruptions in the Gulf waters or the Strait of Hormuz, damage to upstream energy assets, such as production and LNG facilities, is far more serious and could take months or even years to repair, raising the risk of prolonged tight global supply.
Read overnight report:
Some 20% of global LNG exports originate from Gulf countries, and the latest round of Israeli and IRGC attacks on upstream energy assets shows how the conflict has entered an entirely new phase where energy infrastructure is being directly targeted.
Disruptions at Qatar's LNG facilities threaten to tighten the global gas market, with ripple effects quickly spreading worldwide - across Asia, Europe, and even U.S. gas prices.
European natural gas benchmark futures jumped as much as 35% today, pushing prices to more than double their pre-war levels, as traders brace for what only appears to be a prolonged period of disruption from critical LNG hubs that account for a fifth of the world's total supply.
QatarEnergy warned earlier that LNG facilities inside its Ras Laffan Industrial City were attacked by missiles, "causing sizable fires and extensive further damage."
"This could be a game changer for the LNG industry, akin to the attack on Nord Stream or possibly even worse ," Susan Sakmar, visiting assistant professor at the University of Houston Law Center, said, quoted by Bloomberg. "This is a sudden disruption, with no indication that Qatar could restart anytime soon ."
Global Risk Management analyst Arne Lohmann Rasmussen warned, "LNG from Qatar could in principle be offline for months and, in the worst case, for years. For the gas market, the crisis does not end simply because the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens ."
UBS analyst Matt Salmon commented on the exploding energy risk premia due to overnight war developments:
Geopolitical risk premia in the energy complex rose further following attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, after President Trump failed earlier this week to establish an international coalition to support the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. In a clear escalation of hostilities, Iranian energy infrastructure was targeted for the first time in the conflict, with Israel striking the South Pars gas field, while the US claimed no prior knowledge.
Iran had warned early in the conflict that there would be "no red lines" around retaliatory actions, and it made good on this threat with two strikes in less than 12 hours on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, home to the world's largest LNG facility, with state operator QatarEnergy reporting "extensive damage."
Trump subsequently pressed for de-escalation of attacks on gas facilities in Iran, but moves in Brent were muted, reflecting diminishing confidence that the US has a credible off-ramp. Brent crude is currently trading around $112/bbl, Asian LNG prices are above $20/bbl, and Asian refining margin proxies exceed $40/bbl, amid rising investor anxiety over disruptions to global fuel and gas supplies.
Macron Urges Direct Talks: 'Return to Reason'
At a moment Gulf shipping lanes are freezing up with tankers idling in the Gulf of Oman waiting for a greenlight through what's been for most a no-go zone, Iranian lawmakers have proposed a plan to impose tolls and taxes on ships passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz - which of course would not include passage of US and Israeli ships, or others deemed participants of Operation Epic Fury.
Europe is watching nervously from the sidelines, itching for some kind of presentable offramp, also after NATO allies this week snubbed joining Trump's coalition to seek to militarily open the strait back up to global shipping. Germany's Friedrich Merz welcomed signals that Trump might dial things back, saying "I am particularly grateful that the US president sent a signal last night that he prepared to bring the fighting to an end " - while France’s Emmanuel Macron warned of a "reckless escalation" as energy infrastructure becomes the primary battlefield, and so has called for direct talks between Washington and Tehran. Here's what he said in part before an EU leaders' summit in Brussels on Thursday :
"We will obviously defend a de-escalation, a return to stability in the Middle East," Macron said, adding that he spoke to Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Donald Trump about the war on Wednesday night.
"I think that everyone should calm down and the fighting should stop at least for a few days to try to give negotiations a chance again ," the French leader added. "I hope that, in any case, everyone will return to reason ."
Brussels' bottom line has consistently been over the last few days: "This is not our war."
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 21:31 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:25:00 +0000 Kent Tells Tucker: 'Imminent Threat' Was From Israel, Not Iran; Ordered To Halt Charlie Kirk Investigation
Kent Tells Tucker: 'Imminent Threat' Was From Israel, Not Iran; Ordered To Halt Charlie Kirk Investigation
Joe Kent, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center who was President Trump’s principal counte
Read more.....
Kent Tells Tucker: 'Imminent Threat' Was From Israel, Not Iran; Ordered To Halt Charlie Kirk Investigation
Joe Kent, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center who was President Trump’s principal counterterrorism advisor, appeared on Tucker Carlson's show to explain his side of the story after stepping down from the administration.
Kent announced his resignation Tuesday, citing his opposition to the ongoing U.S. war with Iran , and his belief that Iran posed "no imminent threat" to America - while asserting in his resignation letter that his wife died in "a war manufactured by Israel" in a 2019 suicide bombing in Manjbi, Syria.
In this first public interview since resigning , Kent elaborated on his reasons amid reports emerging Wednesday that the FBI is investigating him for allegedly leaking
Early on in the interview, Carlson referenced Secretary of State Marco Rubio's justification for the strikes - that Iran posed an imminent threat because Israel was preparing to attack Iranian targets, likely prompting Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces. Carlson reframed it bluntly:
Carlson : “So, the imminent threat that the secretary of state is describing is not from Iran. It’s from Israel.”
Kent : “Exactly. And I think this speaks to the broader issue: who is in charge of our policy in the Middle East? ”
Kent elaborated that Israel was preparing to strike , which would trigger retaliation endangering U.S. personnel - creating the cited "imminent" risk. He stated:
Kent : “The Israelis drove the decision to take this action, which we knew would set off a series of events because the Iranians would retaliate.”
Kent insisted there was zero U.S. intelligence of Iran planning a direct attack, nearing a nuclear weapon, or posing an immediate homeland threat. He cited Iran's religious fatwa against nuclear weapons (since 2004) and said the assassinated Supreme Leader Khamenei had moderated the program:
Kent : “There was no intelligence that said, hey… the Iranians are going to launch this big sneak attack… There was none of that intelligence.” On nukes: “No, they weren’t [on the verge of a bomb]. They weren’t in June either. The Iranians have had a fatwa - a religious ruling - against the development of a nuclear weapon since 2004… We had no intelligence that it was being disobeyed.”
Internal Dissent Suppressed
Kent described how dissenting views were sidelined in the lead-up to strikes. Key officials, including himself, were reportedly barred from direct briefings with Trump. He said he spoke personally with the president before resigning - a conversation he described as "very respectful" - but felt staying would mean silencing his warnings.
"A good deal of key decision-makers were not allowed to come and express their opinion to the president," Kent said, adding "There wasn't a robust debate. "
The Charlie Kirk Assassination and Blocked Investigation
In an emotionally charged segment, Kent discussed the September 2025 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, whom he knew personally. Kent recounted Kirk's last words to him in the West Wing in June:
Kent (recalling Kirk): “Joe, stop us from getting into a war with Iran. ”
Kent said Kirk had opposed escalation and faced pressure from pro-Israel donors. He revealed the NCTC had leads on potential foreign involvement but was ordered to halt :
Kent : “The investigation that the National Counterterrorism Center was a part of, we were stopped from continuing to investigate… There was still a lot for us to look into… there were still linkages for us to investigate that we needed to run down.”
The official narrative focused on lone gunman Ryan Robinson, but Kent insisted unresolved questions remained.
Other Notable Revelations
Kent spent significant time discussing his own warnings from a January 2024 appearance on Carlson’s show , where he had predicted a U.S. war with Iran would become “very bloody very quickly,” rally the Iranian people around the regime, activate deadly proxy networks across the region (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis), overstretch American military and economic resources amid other global commitments, and ultimately hand strategic victories to China. He stated that those predictions had proven prescient, as Tehran’s proxies were already conducting attacks and that the conflict was draining U.S. attention and treasure at precisely the wrong moment.
A major theme was the strategic windfall for China. Kent warned that deep U.S. entanglement in Iran would play directly into Beijing’s hands:
Kent : “If we get deeply involved and deeply entangled with Iran, we are playing right into China’s hands, because China would like nothing more than for us to be committing our military industrial base to a war in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, and then to be committing our conventional military power, our blood, and our treasure back in the Middle East. That will make the Pacific, our actual border, extremely vulnerable to Chinese aggression, or China will simply just watch us bleed out economically as we bleed out on the battlefield on these couple different theaters.”
He described China as “sitting on the sidelines… silently nodding along with a slowly spreading grin,” benefiting from America’s distraction and resource depletion without firing a shot.
Kent also offered a detailed explanation of Iran’s nuclear calculus, describing Tehran’s strategy as “actually pretty pragmatic.” He pointed to the cautionary tale of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi:
Kent : “The Iranian strategy, it’s actually pretty pragmatic … because they saw what happened to Gaddafi in Libya when he said ‘I’ll give up my nukes.’”
Kent argued that the regime views nuclear weapons as an insurance policy against regime change, and that the current war - rather than deterring them - would likely empower hardliners in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) while rallying the broader Iranian population behind the government. He noted that the assassinated Supreme Leader Khamenei had been a moderating influence and that his successor could prove far more radical.
On the declassification of sensitive historical files, Kent addressed Trump’s orders to release documents related to the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations (as well as Epstein files). He said no “earth-shattering” revelations were expected, but that the bureaucracy was deliberately slow-walking the process:
Joe Kent (on the files): “The same government that told us a magic bullet killed JFK… bureaucracy slows declassification deliberately.”
Kent suggested that full transparency would never occur without sustained pressure from the top.
Full interview here:
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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 21:25 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000 SoCal Heat-Wave Prompts Health Warning Of High Bacteria Levels At Los Angeles Beaches
SoCal Heat-Wave Prompts Health Warning Of High Bacteria Levels At Los Angeles Beaches
SoCal Heat-Wave Prompts Health Warning Of High Bacteria Levels At Los Angeles Beaches
Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,
Health officials warned that some Southern California beaches may be unsafe for swimming due to elevated bacterial levels this week amid elevated temperatures across the region.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on March 18 said that visitors should avoid swimming, surfing, or playing in the ocean waters between Malibu and Santa Monica due to bacteria levels that it said exceed state health standards.
“These warnings are issued because recent water samples showed bacterial levels exceeding health standards, which may increase the risk of illness,”
The health department did not elaborate on the species or type of bacteria that prompted the warnings.
The warnings issued by the county health department appear to apply mainly to areas near storm drains, restrooms, and creeks.
Specifically, the advisory said the warnings applied to areas within 100 yards up and down the coast from:
the Culver Boulevard storm drain at Dockweiler State Beach
the public restrooms at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu
Walnut Creek at Paradise Cove
the Wilshire Boulevard storm drain at Santa Monica Beach (north of Tower 12)
Topsail Street in Venice
the lagoon at Topanga Canyon Beach in Malibu
Escondido Creek at Escondido State Beach
and the entire swim area at Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey
Advisories were lifted at Inner Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, the Marie Canyon Storm Drain at Puerco Beach, the Santa Monica Canyon Creek at Will Rogers State Beach near Will Rogers Tower 18, and the Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach, the Los Angeles Health Department said.
Temperatures in Southern California are under a “long-duration heatwave” throughout this week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Temperatures are around 25 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, and a number of daily records will be broken, the weather agency said.
Forecasters say that for March 19 and March 20, temperatures across Los Angeles are set to exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit, while the weekend will see lower temperatures.
“Numerous and widespread daily and March monthly record highs are likely, with some locations in California already breaking their March monthly records on Tuesday,”
Elevated bacteria at beaches have long been a concern for some groups. Nearly two-thirds of beaches tested nationwide in 2024 experienced at least one day in which indicators of fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels, conservation group Environment America said in a report issued last summer.
The group reviewed beaches on the coasts and Great Lakes and found that 84 percent of Gulf Coast beaches exceeded the standard at least once. The number was 79 percent for West Coast beaches, 54 percent for East Coast beaches, and 71 percent for Great Lakes beaches, it said.
The report also said more than 450 beaches were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least 25 percent of the days tested.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 21:00 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:35:00 +0000 Bezos Plots Colossal $100 Billion Fund To Transform Companies Using AI: WSJ
Bezos Plots Colossal $100 Billion Fund To Transform Companies Using AI: WSJ
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in early discussions to raise as much as $100 billion for a new investment vehicle aimed at acquiring and revitalizing
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Bezos Plots Colossal $100 Billion Fund To Transform Companies Using AI: WSJ
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in early discussions to raise as much as $100 billion for a new investment vehicle aimed at acquiring and revitalizing manufacturing companies through the application of artificial intelligence , according to the Wall Street Journal .
The proposed fund , described in investor materials as a “manufacturing transformation vehicle,” would target companies in strategic industrial sectors such as semiconductor fabrication, defense and aerospace . Bezos has held preliminary meetings with some of the largest asset managers in Asia and the Middle East, though the talks remain at an nascent stage, the Journa l said.
The initiative is closely linked to Project Prometheus, the AI startup Bezos co-founded and co-leads as CEO. Launched in late 2025 with $6.2 billion in initial funding—much of it from billionaire himself—the company is developing advanced AI models designed to understand and simulate the physical world.
Project Prometheus, valued at roughly $30 billion following its initial round, is separately pursuing additional capital, the Journal also reported.
The unprecedented surge in investment into artificial intelligence has raised a host of unresolved questions. Is the AI boom a bubble destined to burst? And perhaps more pressingly, how will the world muster sufficient energy to sustain this revolutionary technology amid soaring power demands from data centers?
In an interview at Italian Tech Week in October, Bezos offered an answer to the second question.
The Amazon founder predicted that “gigawatt-scale” data centers—massive facilities capable of drawing power on the scale of entire cities—will begin to be constructed in orbit within the next 10 to 20 years. The billionaire argued that the orbital installations would harness constant, uninterrupted solar energy, free from clouds, weather, or nighttime interruptions that constrain terrestrial operations.
“These giant training clusters…will be better built in space, because we have solar power there, 24/7. There are no clouds and no rain, no weather,” Bezos said during a fireside conversation with Ferrari and Stellantis Chairman John Elkann. “We will be able to beat the cost of terrestrial data centers in space in the next couple of decades.”
The concept of orbital data centers has gained traction among tech giants as Earth-based facilities devour electricity and water to cool their racks of servers . Continuous sunlight and zero weather make space an appealing option - at least in theory.
But Bezos acknowledged there are serious hurdles ahead: maintenance and upgrades would be far more difficult in orbit, rocket launches are costly, and any failure could wipe out billions in hardware in a flash.
Still, the Amazon founder insisted that as launch costs fall and technology improves, the economics will eventually tilt in space’s favor.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 20:35 Close Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:10:00 +0000 Super Micro Co-Founder Arrested In Alleged $2.5 Billion Nvidia Chip Smuggling Scheme
Super Micro Co-Founder Arrested In Alleged $2.5 Billion Nvidia Chip Smuggling Scheme
Federal prosecutors have charged a co-founder of Super Micro Computer Inc. and two associates with participating in a scheme to divert roug
Read more.....
Super Micro Co-Founder Arrested In Alleged $2.5 Billion Nvidia Chip Smuggling Scheme
Federal prosecutors have charged a co-founder of Super Micro Computer Inc. and two associates with participating in a scheme to divert roughly $2.5 billion in advanced Nvidia chips to China , according to an indictment unsealed Thursday afternoon. The charges mark a notable escalation in Washington’s effort to police the flow of high-end artificial-intelligence hardware, shifting focus from overseas resellers to individuals with direct ties to U.S. technology firms.
The indictment alleges that the defendants obtained restricted graphics processors - used to train large AI models - and routed them through intermediaries to obscure their ultimate destination . U.S. export rules bar the sale of the most advanced chips to China without a license, citing national-security concerns.
U.S. prosecutors have charged three men - senior executive Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw (the co-founder), Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang , and Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun - with conspiring to divert billions of dollars’ worth of advanced U.S.-made AI servers to China , bypassing strict export bans.
The servers (packed with powerful restricted Nvidia chips) are banned from sale to China without special government approval because of national security risks. No licenses were ever obtained. Authorities say the group used a combination of third-party entities and altered shipping documentation to bypass those restrictions. Details on the volume and value of the shipments weren’t immediately available.
How the Alleged Scheme Worked:
The group used a company in Southeast Asia as a front buyer to place huge orders with a California-based U.S. manufacturer.Once the servers arrived in Southeast Asia, they were quickly repackaged and secretly shipped to customers in China through a network of brokers.
Cover-Up Tactics:
Fake documents claiming the Southeast Asian company was the real end-user.
When audits happened, they staged warehouses with non-working “dummy” replica servers.
One defendant allegedly posed as a lawyer during a U.S. government inspection.Text messages show they knew the rules were tightening but rushed shipments anyway (e.g., “We need to speed these up before May 13!”).
They've been charged with three counts; Conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, Conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, and Conspiracy to defraud the United States (impairing Commerce Department licensing and enforcement).
The case places an unusual spotlight on Super Micro, a Silicon Valley company that has emerged as a key supplier of servers configured with Nvidia processors for data centers and cloud providers. The inclusion of a co-founder raises questions about whether the alleged activity reflects isolated conduct or broader compliance gaps , though prosecutors haven’t accused the company itself of wrongdoing.
Shares of Super Micro fell sharply in extended trading following reports of the charges, reflecting investor concern that the case could disrupt relationships with customers and suppliers or invite additional scrutiny from regulators.
A Persistent Weak Point
U.S. officials have spent the past several years tightening export controls on advanced semiconductors, aiming to limit China’s ability to develop cutting-edge AI systems with potential military applications. Yet enforcement has lagged behind policy.
Investigations and industry disclosures have repeatedly shown that restricted chips continue to reach Chinese buyers through a web of resellers and transshipment hubs in Asia . The result is a gray market that has proven difficult to eliminate, even as Washington expands blacklists and licensing requirements.
The latest case suggests a shift in strategy . Rather than focusing primarily on overseas networks, prosecutors appear increasingly willing to pursue individuals closer to the source of supply - where access, knowledge and documentation can be harder to disentangle.
"The conduct by these individuals alleged in the indictment is a contravention of the Company’s policies and compliance controls , including efforts to circumvent applicable export control laws and regulations," Supermicro said in a statement. "Supermicro maintains a robust compliance program and is committed to full adherence to all applicable U.S. export and re-export control laws and regulations."
This isn't the first time Super Micro has made news for shady practices. Back in 2020, the company (and its then-CFO) were slapped with a $17.5 million SEC settlement for years of classic accounting gimmicks - prematurely booking revenue on servers that were still sitting in warehouses, shipping incomplete units, and all the usual channel-stuffing tricks that inflated profits by hundreds of millions. Fast-forward to 2024, and short-seller Hindenburg dropped a bomb accusing Supermicro of ongoing related-party deals tied to the CEO’s family in Taiwan/China , more revenue-recognition games, and enough red flags that Ernst & Young quit as auditor and the DOJ opened a criminal probe.
High Stakes for the AI Supply Chain
The chips at the center of the case are among the most sought-after components in the global technology industry. Nvidia’s high-performance processors underpin everything from generative-AI models to advanced analytics systems, and demand has surged as companies race to build out AI infrastructure.
That demand has also created incentives to circumvent restrictions . Industry executives have privately acknowledged that once chips leave the U.S. or authorized distributors, tracking their final destination becomes challenging.
Related:
2 Chinese Nationals, 2 Americans Charged With Smuggling Nvidia Chips To China
For Super Micro, the episode comes at a pivotal moment . The company has benefited from a boom in AI-related spending, positioning itself as a fast-growing provider of specialized server systems. Any perception of compliance failures could complicate that trajectory, particularly if customers or partners reassess risk.
Tyler Durden Thu, 03/19/2026 - 20:10 Close
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