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Inflation rises to 4.2 percent in May, highest level in 3 years

The annual inflation rate increased to its highest point in three years as the cost of energy and other goods rose due to the Iran war, according to data released by the Department of Labor on Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), a popular gauge of inflation, rose 4.2 percent over the past 12 months and 0.5 percent in May alone.

The CPI increase matched the Wall Street consensus and marks the first time that it has surpassed 4 percent since May, 2023, making it the highest rate since April of that year.

Energy prices rose 3.9 percent in May after having risen 3.8 percent in April and 10.9 percent in March, accounting for over 60 percent of the monthly all-items increase.

The Energy Information Administration reported that the average price for gas reached $4.49 in mid-May, compared to $4.09 in mid-April. In June, the national average has so far dropped to $4.15, according to AAA. 

The price of fuel has kept increasing as peace talks between the U.S. and Iran drag out, likely threatened by the latest exchanges, which could threaten an already fragile two-month ceasefire.

The food index also saw an increase of 3.1 percent over the past year, with a 0.2 percent rise in May. All other items saw a nearly 3-percent increase in the last year after also rising by 0.2 percent in May. 

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These Are The Six States Celebrating America 250 By Raising Your Gas Tax

The final countdown for America’s 250th birthday is on. Families will be planning road trips, parades, vacations, reunions, and cookouts to celebrate the greatest nation in history. But in six states, politicians have a different idea for the party: raise taxes.

Beginning July 1, drivers in California, Washington, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, and Mississippi are scheduled to see higher state gas taxes. In other words, as the country prepares to celebrate casting aside a tax-heavy king in favor of freedom, these states will use the occasion to fatten government coffers one gallon at a time.

The worst offenders will be no surprise. California, Washington and Illinois  — we’ll call them the Axis of Glut.

Their governors are often the first to fake outrage when gas prices rise. They blame oil companies. They blame “price gouging.” They blame world events. They blame everyone except the politicians who keep piling taxes, mandates, and regulations onto every gallon drivers buy.

Yet these same states already have some of the worst gas prices in the nation, some of the highest gas taxes in America, and now they are getting ready to raise those taxes again.

California’s gas tax is already the highest in the country and is scheduled to climb again on July 1, from 61.2 cents to 63.4 cents per gallon, under the state’s annual inflation adjustment. The same report noted California’s average price for regular gasoline was nearly $6 per gallon in early June.

Illinois is no better. The state says its motor fuel tax will rise on July 1 because the law requires an annual inflation adjustment. Washington joined the club with a gas tax increase last year and then baked in automatic increases going forward. Starting July 1, 2026, the state’s fuel tax rises by 2% every year unless lawmakers change the law.

This is the dirty hustle behind inflation-indexed taxes. Politicians get to raise taxes without holding a press conference to admitting it. They pass the law once, then every year drivers get mugged by a formula.

As of June 8, the national average for regular gas was $4.164, down 38.2 cents in a single month. That is welcome relief for families, workers, small businesses and anyone trying to get through summer. But the national average would look even better if it were not being anchored down by tax-heavy states that treat drivers like a rolling ATM.

The problem is not limited to the six July 1 tax-hike states. Seven of the ten most expensive states for gas are run by Democratic governors. That is not a coincidence.

Taxes play a major role in the high-price reputation of many of these states. So do their regulatory regimes, special fuel rules, anti-energy policies and climate mandates that make fuel harder to produce, refine, transport and sell.

The result is predictable.

Families, small businesses, truckers, and farmers all pay more. Then the same politicians who helped drive up the cost pretend they are shocked by the bill.

That is not compassion. That is government gluttony.

Supporters claim the money goes to roads and infrastructure. But that excuse only goes so far. Every tax increase is sold as necessary. Yet somehow the burden always lands in the same place: on the people who drive to work, school, church, the grocery store or a summer vacation.

That is what makes the timing so perfect, and so insulting.

America’s 250th birthday should be a celebration of freedom, independence and the rejection of government overreach. The American Revolution was born from the idea that people should not be treated as endless revenue sources for rulers who never seem to have enough.

Nearly 250 years later, millions of drivers will pull into gas stations in California, Washington, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, and Mississippi and get a reminder that some politicians still have not learned the lesson.

The country is moving toward a better energy future: lower prices, more production, more reliability and less punishment for the people who keep America moving. But these six states are choosing a different path.

America 250 should remind us why this country was born: because free people eventually get tired of being treated like revenue.

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Jasmine Crockett suggests she also would have stabbed Austin Metcalf in stunning defense of Karmelo Anthony

Lame-duck Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) suggested during an unhinged episode podcast that she too would have stabbed track star Austin Metcalf — after Karmelo Anthony was convicted of first-degree murder in the racially charged case.

On Tuesday’s episode of “Clock It with Crockett,” the failed Senate candidate let loose a torrent of falsehoods to paint a picture of the brutal slaying of 17-year-old Metcalf that had virtually no basis in reality.

The cavalcade of inaccuracies started with Crockett downplaying the size of the semi-serrated, 5-inch pocket knife Anthony was convicted of plunging into Metcalf’s chest during a dispute at a track meet at Memorial High School in Frisco, Texas, last April.

“Wait a minute, it was this?” she said, holding her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart to demonstrate the size of the murder weapon.

“Was it a switch? I don’t know what he had,” Crockett said, inadvertently telegraphing her flimsy grasp of the facts of the case that has roiled her home state for more than a year.

One of her guests claimed the knife was “a multi-tool” akin to a Swiss army knife.

“Yeah, like with the little scissors and everything and whatever. So it was small,” Crockett said, furrowing her brow and squinting her eyes in disbelief.

“Well, I would argue the size of it alone, you wouldn’t even think it’s a deadly weapon.”

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Anti-Marijuana Ballot Campaigns In Maine And Massachusetts Accused Of ‘Fraudulent’ And ‘Misleading’ Petitioning Tactics

Campaigns that are working to put measures to roll back marijuana legalization on the ballot in two states are facing accusations of “fraudulent” and “misleading” signature gathering tactics—and not for the first time.

Now, however, new social media posts from both states appear to show signature collectors for each measure arguing that people who support legal cannabis access should sign the petitions in order to advance or protect marijuana reform.

A video posted to Reddit of a signature gatherer for the Massachusetts proposal—which would repeal state laws allowing the regulated commercial sales of recreational marijuana while maintaining legal possession and continuing the medical cannabis system—shows the man collecting signatures outside a supermarket next to a sign that says “keep cannabis legal.”

When confronted by a marijuana reform supporter who recorded the petitioner’s interactions with voters, he appeared to be trying to convince them that it is important to qualify the anti-cannabis measure for the ballot in order to then defeat it.

“This is what we’re fighting against right here. That’s why we vote no,” he said. “If we can get this to the ballot right here, we vote no.”

The person who captured the video pointed out that Massachusetts voters already approved marijuana legalization years ago, and that the only way it could be imminently repealed is if the new ballot measure qualified for the November election. If the initiative does not get enough signatures to go before voters, the state’s laws will remain the same.

“It’s my job,” the petitioner insisted, however. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“It’s a group of rich folks from out of state that want to basically take marijuana to when it was a medical marijuana card,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen.”

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‘The Cause Is Doomed’: New Anti-EU Bulgarian Government Stops Sending Military Aid to Ukraine

Radev is not toeing the Brussels’ line.

The new Bulgarian government that was sworn in on 8 May 2026 under Prime Minister Rumen Radev is already showing it means business.

Radev’s ‘Progressive Bulgaria’ party won a landslide victory in April with 45 % of the vote and 135 seats in the 240-seat parliament – the first majority government in Bulgaria since 1997.

The government is Pro-EU membership but markedly pro-Russian and Euroskeptic in terms of foreign policy, defending national sovereignty.

So, there you have it: a NATO and EU country bucking Brussels’ war dogma.

Radev has long opposed sanctions on Russia and military aid to Ukraine, and with one month in office, his government has already stopped sending weapons to Ukraine.

This was announced today (9) by the country’s Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov.

Politico reported:

“The move cements the new Bulgarian government’s opposition to EU support for Ukraine after Russia-aligned Prime Minister Rumen Radev won a parliamentary election in a landslide in April. Bulgaria has sent 13 aid packages to Kyiv since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, but Radev has described the Ukrainian cause as ‘doomed’.

‘We have already made it clear that the war in Ukraine will not be resolved on the battlefield. We are witnessing a war of attrition, and no matter how much weaponry is amassed, the only result is the loss of human lives. It is time to sit down at the negotiating table’, Stoyanov said at a press conference on Tuesday.”

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Tensions Boil Over Outside Courthouse After Karmelo Anthony Found Guilty of Murder – Deputies Make Arrests

Tensions boiled over outside the Collin County Courthouse after a jury convicted Karmelo Anthony of murder in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf.

The jury in the Karmelo Anthony murder case reached a swift verdict after deliberating for more than two hours on Tuesday.

The jury found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder. He faces life in prison.

Karmelo Anthony and his mother sobbed in court after the judge read the guilty verdict.

The jury still hasn’t decided on Karmelo Anthony’s sentencing.

Black Panthers gathered outside the courthouse and defended Karmelo Anthony.

“We got to tell our kids the truth that this is a racist ass country! We gotta tell them the truth,” one of the Black Panthers shouted.

“Don’t nobody want to hear about what we do to each other. We talking about what they doing to US!” she said.

“White folks kill white folks. Mexicans kill Mexicans. We ain’t trying to hear no cool sh*t today. Go open up them white folks with that. This is a racist-ass country!” she added.

Deputies made swift arrests as protestors clashed.

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UK Plans To JAIL Tech CEOs Who Refuse To SPY On Every Phone

New measures would compel client-side inspection of every photo, video and message on devices, escalating the digital ID lockdown already plotted for British smartphones in coordination with major technology firms.

Privacy advocates warn the “child safety” framing masks a broader drive to turn personal phones into mandatory surveillance endpoints, with criminal penalties aimed at any executive who resists.

Reclaim The Net, an organization dedicated to countering online censorship and digital surveillance, flagged the draft legislation in recent updates. 

The group described how UK authorities are preparing to imprison tech executives for up to five years under the Online Safety Act if companies refuse to build and deploy scanners capable of reviewing every piece of content on user devices.

The push targets expanded “client-side scanning” features, requiring devices to inspect material before it is sent or received.

Existing tools from Apple and Google, such as nudity detection in Messages or sensitive content warnings, would be broadened into comprehensive, always-active systems. Non-compliance would trigger direct penalties against company leadership rather than the firms alone.

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Pentagon Bans EV Giant BYD from Defense Contracts, Citing Chinese Military Ties

The Pentagon has added Chinese tech giant Alibaba, electric vehicle (EV) titan BYD, and search engine Baidu to its list of companies that cannot secure U.S. defense contracts because they are linked to the Chinese military.

The Department of War began maintaining a list of “Chinese military companies” in 2021 known as the 1260H list, named after the section of the defense authorization act that created it. Companies on the list are known to provide services to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), although they are not explicitly state-owned firms.

The list is supposed to map out the extensive coordination between China’s military complex and private companies, and caution American companies that doing business with named companies could risk their physical or intellectual property to end up in the hands of the PLA.

The new additions, made on Monday, brought the 1260H list up to 188 companies, from 130 last year. Although companies on the list are not automatically subjected to punitive sanctions, the Chinese government considers the 1260H list to be anti-competitive and unfair – more of an effort to “contain” China’s growing industrial sector than to address real security threats.

On Monday the Chinese Embassy to the United States accused the Pentagon of “overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies.”

“The U.S. should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies,” the embassy said.

Alibaba released its own statement insisting that it is “not a Chinese military company, nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy.”

“We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company,” an Alibaba spokesman said.

The Pentagon noted that Alibaba, BYD, and Baidu are all affiliated with the Chinese Communist government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Another firm, robotics company Unitree, made the list because it “knowingly received assistance” from the Chinese state.

Fortune noted on Monday that all three of China’s top artificial intelligence (A.I.) companies – Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent Holdings – are now 1260H listed entities.

Two chipmakers that were seemingly removed from the list this year, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies, have been restored. When they vanished from the list in February, some critics said the Trump administration was attempting to placate China ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with dictator Xi Jinping.

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chair of the House Select Committee on China, said Monday that not only was the 1260H list necessary and appropriate, but even stronger action should be taken against companies that appear on it.

“These Chinese companies are working with the Chinese military against our national interests,” he said. “Any of them that are publicly traded on U.S. exchanges should be immediately delisted and their products should be removed from supply chains our country depends on.” 

Moolenaar added, “American companies must stop doing business with these threats to our national security; otherwise they are enabling China’s military ascendance.” 

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Rep. Brandon Gill Exposes Joe Biden’s ‘Backdoor Amnesty’ to Keep over 1 Million Illegal Aliens in U.S.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) chaired a House Oversight Committee task force hearing on Tuesday, detailing what he calls President Joe Biden’s “backdoor amnesty” for more than a million illegal aliens across the United States.

“Prior administrations and the infinite amnesty lobby weaponized the U.S. immigration system both for political gain and at the expense of the American people, putting foreigners over our own citizens,” Gill said to open the hearing:

The Biden Administration flooded our country with millions of illegal aliens, unvetted from all over the globe, and the impact has been to reduce working class wages, to strain our social system, our education system, our healthcare system, and to culturally transform the United States. [Emphasis added]

In particular, Gill pointed to Biden’s massive expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the little-known quasi-amnesty program that allows foreign nationals to stay in the U.S., despite having no legal immigration status, if the government has designated their home country as having unlivable conditions due to war or natural disaster.

“It was intended to be temporary …  yet the Biden Administration abused it and has utilized TPS as a form of backdoor amnesty for over a million people who entered our country illegally,” Gill said.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” he continued, noting that when Biden took office, just 410,000 foreign nationals with TPS in the U.S. By the time Biden left office, that total had ballooned to more than a million foreign nationals with TPS.

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