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The Elites And Their Contempt

Last week, I was unexpectedly hit with a post-lockdown trauma response. While driving to a baseball game days before the NFL Draft came to Pittsburgh, I passed a digital highway sign instructing me to avoid nonessential travel.

Suddenly, memories of empty highways with signs instructing drivers to “Stay Safe and Stay Home” came flooding back to me.

As the week developed, it began to occur to me that the parallels were deeper than my subjective emotional response. Road closures intensified, rendering my beloved city of Pittsburgh less and less functional. Even sidewalks were closed. 

Entire parking garages were emptied and abandoned. Pittsburgh’s “most visited museum,” the Kamin Science Center, has been closed to the public for weeks because it was within the footprint of the upcoming event. For the actual days of the draft, Pittsburgh Public Schools were shuttered as if a blizzard had rendered travel impossible.

The attempt by local officials to trigger hysteria in the populace worked, maybe too well. People traveling to Pittsburgh for the event heeded the instructions to use the special free public transit to make their way in. Parking operators, expecting a huge windfall, saw themselves lower their exorbitant prices midday. For example, the Rivers Casino quickly abandoned their plan to charge $250 per day, lowering their rate to $100 for the first day of the draft and then abandoning charging altogether for subsequent days.

Local businesses outside the official footprint of the event were told to prepare for heavy crowds, but instead experienced a weekend worse than anything they had seen since the Covid hysteria. Those who didn’t want to go to the draft were terrified to go anywhere near the city.

In summary, children were deprived of education, small business owners were drastically harmed, public spaces which exist for the common good were shuttered, and normal life ceased for those who actually live in the City of Pittsburgh. While all of this was happening, local politicians were patting themselves on the back for how well everything was pulled off, taking pride that this draft broke attendance records for the NFL and that their plans of getting people in and out of the city were effective. It was our own personal Operation Warp Speed.

I think there’s a lesson here that applies not merely to Pittsburgh politics but also to the wider dysfunction we see in elected officials throughout what used to be Western Civilization.

Our political leaders view their own constituents with a sort of boredom or indifference. In the leadup to the draft, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania engaged in a number of public works projects designed to improve the area in preparation for the draft. 

Suddenly, our governments remembered that potholes aren’t supposed to be allowed to exist and that crime isn’t supposed to be allowed to happen. For three days, Pittsburgh had a heavily subsidized and highly functional public transit system, something that hasn’t existed the entirety of my lifetime.

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Trump Admin To Stop Universities From Charging ‘Unlimited Tuition’ At Taxpayer Expense

The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that it has finalized rules to to help stop colleges and universities from charging exorbitant amounts in tuition, paid for by taxpayers.

“For 20 years, colleges and universities have been able to charge virtually unlimited tuition for their programs, despite the fact that many graduates see very little or no return on investment, the results of this decades long policy on American graduates are staggering,” Nicholas Kent, Under Secretary of Education, said on a press call Thursday. “American families live within their means, and it’s time for colleges and universities to do the same.”

It has been a decades-long reality that colleges and universities have increased their tuition costs knowing Department of Education loans — funded by the American taxpayer, regardless of their education status — will foot the bill. Meanwhile, students are stuck for years with mountains of debt and a degree that does not yield jobs that pay a sufficient amount to justify the debt.

The current student loan portfolio under the Department of Education is $1.7 trillion, and it is estimated that fewer than 40 percent of borrowers are in repayment, while nearly 25 percent are in default.

College loans have skyrocketed 343 percent since 2005, and tuition has “increased faster than any other household expense,” Kent said. According to the department, 71 percent of college graduates delay major life milestones, like buying a home, because of student loan debt. While graduate students hold over one-third of student loan debt, 40 percent of master’s programs have a negative return on investment.

Meanwhile, colleges and universities “raked in billions of dollars at the expense of students and taxpayers over the past 20 years, and today, that era is over,” Kent said.

The final rule, set to take effect July 1, has four primary provisions, including borrowing caps for graduate and professional students. The department is eliminating the Grad PLUS program, which allowed graduate and professional students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance.

Graduate students will be limited to an annual cap of $20,500, with a lifetime cap of $100,000, while professional students will have an annual cap of $50,000 and a lifetime cap of $200,000.

The rules also alter the definition of “professional” degrees to pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology, and clinical psychology.

Some programs, like postgraduate nursing, are no longer eligible.

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Trump Teases Upcoming Release on UFO Files: Things ‘You Wouldn’t Believe’

President Donald Trump said that stunning information will be revealed when the administration makes public its files on UFOs.

“Well, I think we’re going to be releasing as much as we can in the near future… Anything having to do with UFOs or related material we are going to be releasing,” Trump said in a video posted to X.

“And I think some of it’s going to be very interesting,” he said.

Trump did not provide a timetable for the release of the information.

“I interviewed some pilots, very solid people, and they said they saw things that you wouldn’t believe. So you’re going to be reading about it,” he said.

Earlier in April, Trump said a Pentagon study of UFOs resulted in “many very interesting documents,” adding that “the first releases will begin very, very soon,” according to USA Today.

In February, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had ordered federal agencies “to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”

Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, has said that the full spectrum of reports would shock the nation, according to The Hill.

“I’ve been briefed by just about every alphabet agency there is, and I’ll just tell you this, if they would release the things that I’ve seen, you would stay up at — you’d be up at night worrying about or — thinking about this stuff,” Burchett said.

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Violent Offenders Freed By One Twisted Word

New York’s Family Court Act exemplifies how euphemistic terminology undermines justice for violent crime victims. The law classifies 13- to 15-year-olds who commit armed robberies and murders as “juvenile delinquents” engaged in “acts which if committed by an adult would be a crime,” rather than calling them what they are: criminals. This linguistic sleight of hand enables a system where 12-year-olds can commit murder yet face only short-term incarceration. The sanitized language serves a political agenda that prioritizes rehabilitation rhetoric over accountability, leaving communities vulnerable to repeat offenders who understand the system offers minimal consequences for maximum violence.

Recent cases from Florida and Maryland illustrate the growing crisis. An 11-year-old shot teenagers in Florida, while separate incidents involved a 17-year-old and 12-year-old in murders. Miami-Dade experienced a wave of carjackings committed by offenders aged 16-18. Baltimore police made over 500 teen arrests in 2022, with more than 120 juveniles caught carrying handguns. Maryland statistics reveal that individuals under 19 commit 15 percent of violent crimes statewide. The CDC defines youth violence as intentional harm by those aged 10-24, including weapons offenses and gang activity. These numbers reveal a disturbing trend that soft-on-crime policies have enabled rather than prevented.

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Brazil Quietly Shifts Away from the Dollar to Gold

The Banco Central do Brasil has raised gold’s share of reserves from 3.55% to 7.19% in just one year, effectively doubling its exposure and making gold the second-largest reserve asset after the US dollar, while total reserves stand at approximately $358.23 billion and the dollar’s share has declined to about 72%, marking a record low. This is not a marginal adjustment or routine diversification, it is a structural repositioning that reflects a growing unease with sovereign debt markets.

When a central bank reduces dollar exposure while increasing gold holdings, it is not acting randomly but responding to a shift in confidence, and this aligns directly with the broader trend we are witnessing globally as central banks collectively purchased roughly 863 tonnes of gold in 2025 and are expected to remain strong buyers into 2026. The driving forces behind this are not inflation in the traditional sense, but geopolitical fragmentation, the weaponization of reserves, and the realization that sovereign debt levels are no longer sustainable without continued central bank intervention.

Brazil’s move mirrors what we have been warning about for years, which is that capital flows, not trade balances, dictate the strength of currencies, and once confidence begins to erode in government debt, that capital begins to migrate into assets that are not someone else’s liability. Gold fulfills that role because it cannot be printed, defaulted on, or frozen by a foreign government, and this becomes critical in a world where sanctions and financial restrictions are increasingly used as political tools.

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Michigan State University Forced to Close Academic Building After Discovery of a METH LAB

Police were forced to shut down the largest academic building at Michigan State University this week after it was discovered that it was housing a meth lab.

This sounds like something out of the TV series ‘Breaking Bad.’

It’s another embarrassing black eye for higher education but on the bright side, at least the lab didn’t blow up first.

NBC News reports:

Man arrested and charged in meth incident at Michigan State University

A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged in an incident involving methamphetamines at Michigan State University, prompting the closure of Wells Hall, the largest academic building on campus, this week.

Xin Tong faces charges of malicious destruction of property over $20,000 and operating or maintaining a methamphetamine lab, state police said in a news release. He is being held at the Ingham County Jail on a $500,000 cash surety bond. It is not clear whether Tong has an attorney.

Campus Public Safety Chief Mike Yankowski said at a news conference Wednesday that the incident involved an unknown substance found on flooring and doors throughout the building in East Lansing.

At around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, campus police responded to a report of possible trespassing. Officers found Tong on the fifth floor with four or five backpacks and duffel bags, Yankowski said.

Police obtained a search warrant and found “several labeled and unlabeled containers of an unknown liquid substance inside,” the safety chief said.

The news release identified the substances as sodium hydroxide pellets, hydrochloric acid, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone and butane. Police said the substances can be purchased legally online and in stores.

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She Refused A Smart Meter For Health Reasons — So New Jersey Water Company Shut Off Her Water

A New Jersey water company shut off a woman’s water for six days after she refused a smart meter due to health concerns, even though the state has no regulation requiring residents to accept smart meters.

In an exclusive interview with The Defender, Alla Goldman described how New Jersey American Water (NJAW) employees “harassed” her and her husband for over a year, threatening to shut off her water if she refused to let them install a smart water meter.

On March 5, the water company made good on its threats by sending a technician — escorted by two police officers — to her home to shut off her water.

For six days, Goldman, who was sick with the flu, and her husband went without water at their home. Goldman took shelter in a hotel and bought gallons of drinking water.

“I want to sue them for their literal threats,” Goldman said.

While staying at a hotel, Goldman filed a complaint with the state’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) about the water company’s action.

The BPU informed her that the water company had no legal basis for shutting off her water because there is no BPU regulation requiring people to accept smart meter upgrades.

Goldman said, “A BPU supervisor told me that if we do not want a smart meter, we do not have to have one.”

When the BPU informed the water company of Goldman’s complaint, the company changed its tune by offering to restore services and install an analog meter that would not emit wireless radiation.

‘Few people know that water companies do the same thing’

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An Investigation That Georgia Authorities Must Make

“Homicide, premeditated murder” is how two highly respected officials, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr, and Dr David Martin, publicly characterize the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans, including upwards of 32,000 Georgians,* who perished in hospitals while being treated for the COVID-19 virus. The public statements of Kennedy and Martin about the tragic use of the highly toxic drug Remdesivir to treat Covid patients have never been challenged or refuted and thus, can be assumed to be highly creditable.

In the words of Dr Ben Carson, “What happened during COVID must not be quietly erased from history—we must have accountability, transparency, and honest answers because forgetting what happened only guarantees it will happen again.” #BenCarson, #COVIDTruth

Given the above, this article is a CALL TO ACTION for Georgia authorities, including state legislators, the Attorney General, the Governor, and Georgia citizens in general. The alleged horrific crimes committed against so many Georgians must not “be swept under the rug” and not fully investigated. Failure to fully investigate these alleged crimes will truly be a travesty of justice.

Secretary Kennedy states that Remdesivir causes kidney failure, heart failure, and/or all-organ collapse causing eventual death—that the deaths of so many Covid patients were caused by one or more doses of Remdesivir and not the Covid virus. Dr Martin states that any hospital or public health official who knew or should have known about the drug’s deadly effects and failed to stop giving this highly toxic drug to patients has committed “reckless homicide at best or premediated murder at worst”.

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Los Angeles City Councilman Wants Illegals to be Able to Vote in City Elections

Los Angeles city councilman Hugo Martinez recently remarked that he wants illegals to be able to vote in city elections.

He claims that some of these people have lived in the city for years and pay taxes but they don’t have a say in the policies that affect their children. You know what? Tough.

If Democrats are ever given this concession, next year it’ll be state elections and then of course, federal elections. That’s how the left works. It’s baby steps from here all the way to presidential elections.

ABC 7 in Los Angeles reports:

LA councilmember wants to allow noncitizens to vote in city elections

A Los Angeles city councilmember is pushing to explore whether noncitizens should be allowed to vote in future city elections – a proposal still in its earliest stages but already drawing sharp criticism.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said he hopes his motion will make it onto the November ballot, claiming it could eventually open the door for noncitizen residents to participate in local elections.

Federal law bans noncitizens from voting in national races, but several U.S. cities – including some in California – and the District of Columbia allow limited forms of noncitizen voting. Eighteen states, however, have enacted outright bans.

Soto-Martinez said the idea is about fairness for longtime residents who contribute to the city but have no electoral voice.

“We have folks living in this country who have been here 20 years,” he said. “They started a family, they pay their taxes, many of them are homeowners, but they don’t have a say over the policies that affect their children and families on any given day.”

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Convicted Harvard Scientist Could Help China Make Super Soldiers

We’re living in the dumbest timeline. This week we learned that former chair of Harvard’s Chemistry Department Charles Lieber has defected to China. Now he could be helping the PLA make super soldiers. Cool cool cool.

Charles Lieber is a brilliant scientist. Fifteen years ago, Reuters named him the world’s top chemist.

But at some point he started working with China’s “thousand talents” program, the idea of which is to lull the big brains of the West into collaborative research that ultimately helps the CCP’s interests.

In 2021, Charles Lieber was convicted in the US for lying about his ties to China and hiding payments linked to the thousand talents program. His punishment was…just two days in prison, six months of house arrest, and a $50,000 fine.

Now, Lieber has resurfaced in Shenzhen, where he leads a state-backed high tech science lab.

This lab comes with cutting-edge nanofabrication tools, generous Chinese government funding, and even access to primate testing facilities. Harvard closed its primate testing facility a decade ago, due to ethical concerns. That’s why China is such an attractive place for scientists to work. No rules, baby! (Except to obey the CCP, obviously.)

The technology he’s working on in Shenzhen is brain-computer interfaces. My optimistic spin: These devices could help patients with ALS. My dystopian spin: The CCP will use this to create cognitively enhanced super soldiers.

This is the problem with collaborating with China on any research. All research becomes part of the CCP’s “military-civil fusion” strategy, where civilian breakthroughs can be used by the military. Your intentions don’t matter. The CCP is using you.

An example of this would be the NIH-funded gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in Wuhan. American scientists may have at first believed their research would help prevent the next global pandemic. Ha. Ha. Ha.

As for Charles Lieber, he may think that by defecting to China he can have a better life, and maybe he can even help make the world a better place. (We’re all the heroes of our own story.) But eventually, the CCP will use him, and toss him out with the trash. And it’ll be his own fault.

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