Friday, July 3, 2026

Europe Is Already Preparing for War


Europe Is Already Preparing for War


People keep asking when World War III will begin. They are asking the wrong question. Europe is already behaving as though it is at war. I have warned for years that the politicians in Brussels would never allow peace because the sovereign debt crisis requires an external enemy. Every week, another European government announces more military spending, another mobilization plan, another emergency measure, another speech warning the public to prepare for conflict. This is no longer speculation. It is policy.

Now Poland’s foreign intelligence chief, Col. PaweÅ‚ Szota, has made one of the clearest admissions yet. He warned, “The level of Russian aggression is very high, and the risk of military confrontation is real.” He added that Poland “must operate as if war with Russia is inevitable because waiting until conflict begins would be too late. Those are extraordinary statements from the head of a NATO intelligence service. Governments do not talk this way unless they are already planning for the next stage.

Szota explained that Russia “is systematically pushing red lines, testing NATO’s responses,” and argued that the Kremlin views Poland and NATO’s eastern flank as “an obstacle to achieving its imperial ambitions.” He also warned that Moscow could continue the war in Ukraine for years, sacrifice its own economy, and expand hybrid operations against NATO members, including provocations in the Baltic region. Europe is no longer speaking about diplomacy. It is openly discussing escalation scenarios and military contingencies.

This is precisely what our computer has been forecasting. The 2026 Panic Cycle was never simply about financial markets. It marked the acceleration of geopolitical instability. Governments always require a crisis when they cannot solve the debt problem. Europe is entering an economic depression while military budgets are exploding. Germany is debating conscription once again. Poland is rapidly expanding one of the largest armies in Europe. NATO members are increasing defense spending toward 5% of GDP. Civil defense campaigns are appearing across the continent. These are not the actions of governments expecting peace. They are the actions of governments preparing their populations psychologically and financially for war.

Once governments convince themselves war is inevitable, they begin making decisions that ensure it becomes inevitable. Every mobilization by one side is interpreted as aggression by the other. Every sanctions package invites retaliation. Every troop deployment produces another deployment in response. History shows that wars often become unavoidable long before the first shots are fired because political leaders eliminate every possible path back to diplomacy.

I have repeatedly stated that the sovereign debt crisis and the War Cycle are converging. Europe cannot finance its welfare state, its Green agenda, and endless military expansion simultaneously. Something has to give. Throughout history, governments buried under debt have repeatedly turned toward external conflict because war postpones domestic political reckoning. It creates an excuse for deficits, emergency powers, censorship, and capital controls while redirecting public anger toward a foreign adversary.

Ukraine has become the catalyst, not the destination. The computer has consistently warned that 2026 marks the beginning of the Panic Cycle, 2027 carries the highest risk of broader international war, and the economic consequences will intensify into 2028 as recession and civil unrest spread. Europe is no longer preparing to avoid war. Its own intelligence chiefs are now publicly telling their citizens to prepare because they increasingly believe war is coming. That should concern every investor far more than the daily fluctuations in the stock market.


Political Calculus and the Digital ID Path


Democrats Embrace Digital ID Agenda in Project 2029 Plan, Citing Child Safety



A liberal policy group known as Project 2029 has released a plan that would ban social media accounts for users under 16, a proposal first reported by Semafor, as part of what it calls the "Kids Over Clicks" initiative.

The group, described as the mirror image of the conservative Project 2025, aims to set a standard for Democratic presidential candidates in the 2028 election cycle. Executive director Chad Maisel, an erstwhile adviser to former President Joe Biden and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, stated: "We're going to see many people running for president … and we want to set the standard in terms of the type of ambition that we want to see when it comes to solving these problems." [1]

The proposal is framed as a public-health measure. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, a supporter of the plan, called it the "tobacco moment for social media," adding, "The science is in, the lawsuits are succeeding, and public support is overwhelming. This agenda gives policymakers no excuse not to act." [1]

The plan also includes modifying Section 230 liability, capping data collection on minors and prohibiting targeted advertisements directed at children, according to the report.

The "Kids Over Clicks" proposal, as outlined by Project 2029, would ban social media accounts for anyone under 16, cap data collection on minors, outlaw targeted ads and modify Section 230 to reduce platform liability for harmful content. Proponents frame these measures as a necessary public-health intervention to protect children from online harms, according to the report. [1]

The proposal does not explicitly mention age verification technology, but enforcement of an under-16 ban inherently requires platforms to verify the age of all users. The report notes that while the plan limits data collection, it simultaneously demands identity checks that could conflict with those privacy protections. [1] Critics argue that the age gate becomes a turnstile that adults must pass through, effectively eliminating anonymous and pseudonymous speech.

To enforce an under-16 ban, social media platforms would need to verify the age of every user, often through government ID, facial recognition, or digital credentials. Age verification systems act as Trojan horses for government and corporate surveillance, according to global academics.

"They require invasive identity confirmation for basic online activities, eroding digital anonymity," the report states. [2] Critics argue that such requirements eliminate the possibility of anonymous or pseudonymous speech, as every account becomes linked to a verified identity.

The report notes an inherent tension within the proposal. While it seeks to limit data collection on minors, the age verification mechanism itself requires the collection of sensitive personal data.

This creates a contradiction where the very identity the policy aims to protect must be surrendered to enforce the ban. [1] Privacy advocates warn that the biometric data collected through facial scans and ID uploads creates a large database vulnerable to breaches and abuse, as seen with Roblox's mandatory facial age checks, which critics say normalizes digital surveillance. [3]


International Precedents for Age Verification Laws

Australia enacted an under-16 social media ban in December 2025, resulting in the shutdown of nearly five million accounts in its first weeks. Platforms like Facebook and TikTok must implement strict age verification, including facial recognition or government ID uploads, or face fines of up to A$50 million ($34.46 million). [4] However, Australia's Senate later passed a bipartisan motion to block mandatory age verification for search engine users, citing serious privacy concerns. [5]

Britain's Online Safety Act requires identity checks for platforms, a regime broad enough that the Wikimedia Foundation went to court arguing it could force identity checks onto Wikipedia editors. [6] The European Union is building a continent-wide Digital Identity Wallet, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already enforce strict digital ID requirements for internet access. [1]These international models show that age verification, sold as child protection, creates a permanent identity check for all users.

Conclusion: Political Calculus and the Digital ID Path

The report suggests that no candidate will want to oppose child safety measures, making the political calculus favorable for the Digital ID agenda. However, the price of winning that support is a Democratic Party that runs on the same instrument as Britain, Brussels, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh: a standing check on who gets to speak without a name. [1] Australia's experience shows that while children may find workarounds, the identity verification requirement remains for all users.

As author Carrie Goldberg notes in "Nobody's Victim," the constant threat of online harassment and stalking has made safety a paramount concern, yet the solutions often come at the cost of privacy. [7] The analysis concludes that Project 2029's plan positions Democrats to adopt a global digital ID framework, effectively normalizing surveillance infrastructure similar to that used by authoritarian states, all under the guise of protecting children.


The Last Petrodollar: A diagnosis of American terminal decline


The Last Petrodollar: A diagnosis of American terminal decline


Some books gently nudge you toward a new perspective and then some books grab you by the collar, sit you down and point at a bonfire you didn't realize you were standing in. "The Last Petrodollar: Why America Must Reinvent Itself or Vanish" is firmly in the latter category. Authored by a coalition of voices rooted in sound money, decentralization and constitutional originalism, this book is not a dry economic treatise. It is a searing, high-definition diagnosis of a patient in critical condition.

The central thesis is brutally honest: The American Empire is dying and the primary cause of death is the very thing we thought was a sign of our strength—the petrodollar.


The book begins by taking us back to the moment the world broke. August 15, 1971. The "Nixon Shock." When Nixon severed the dollar's last link to gold, he didn't just change a policy; he cut the anchor chain of the American republic. The authors, building on the foundational work of thinkers like Ellen Hodgson Brown (Web of Debt) and C. Jason Maier (A Progressive's Case for Bitcoin), argue that this single act transformed the U.S. from a productive nation into a parasitic empire.

Without the discipline of gold, Washington could print money to fund Vietnam, the Great Society and endless wars without raising a single tax. The petrodollar system was the ingenious follow-up. The secret deal with Saudi Arabia forced the world to buy oil with dollars, creating an artificial, eternal demand for our currency. We exported our inflation and borrowed trillions, all while our factories closed and our industrial base rotted.

"The Last Petrodollar" masterfully explains the "recycling mechanism": We send paper dollars to Saudi Arabia for oil; Saudi Arabia sends those dollars back by buying U.S. Treasury bonds. This allowed America to live like a trust-fund kid who never realized the trust fund was about to run out. The book calls this what it is: a magical stage show of prosperity built on borrowed time.

What makes this book so gripping is its unflinching look at the present. The world is waking up. The "De-Dollarization" chapter feels like a news report from the front lines. We learn that Russia and China have not only built alternative payment systems (BRICS Pay) but are also stockpiling gold at record levels. The freezing of Russian central bank assets in 2022 is described as the "shot heard round the world"—the moment every other nation realized their dollar savings could be stolen.


The book's strength is its interdisciplinary approach. It doesn't just look at the money; it looks at the gun. The chapter on "Hypersonic Missiles" is terrifyingly brilliant. The authors explain that the Age of the Aircraft Carrier is over. A $13 billion floating city can be sunk by a $500,000 hypersonic missile that moves at Mach 20. Iran's low-cost drone swarm strategy is presented as a model of decentralized power, humbling the world's most expensive military. The message is clear: our naval supremacy, the muscle behind the dollar, is obsolete.

But the book isn't just about external threats. It delivers a devastating critique of the home front. The chapter titled "The Islamization of America" and "Why Unassimilated Groups Threaten National Cohesion" is likely to be the most controversial, but it is argued with a focus on national unity rather than bigotry. It argues that a nation cannot hold together if parts of it operate under separate legal and cultural rules, a point backed by the historical lessons of the melting pot versus modern multiculturalism.

In the end, "The Last Petrodollar" is a book about consequences. It is the story of how we traded a republic of producers for an empire of consumers. It reads like a cautionary tale for a civilization that forgot that money must be earned, wars must be paid for and liberty requires personal responsibility. It is not a comfortable read, but it is an essential one. If you want to understand why your grocery bill has doubled and your savings are shrinking, this book doesn't just tell you the symptom—it shows you the disease. The diagnosis is terminal. The only question is whether we dare to undergo the radical treatment before the patient vanishes.


Thursday, July 2, 2026

Public backlash explodes against mass surveillance cameras


Public backlash explodes against mass surveillance cameras


A new public safety battle is brewing in America that centers on artificial intelligence-powered cameras discreetly installed on thousands of street corners, parks, parking lots, neighborhoods and drones buzzing overhead.

Many of the cameras are operated by Atlanta-based Flock Safety for the purpose of providing footage to law enforcement. But the prevalence of the cameras has spurred growing public resistance across the political spectrum and led to dozens of communities canceling or rejecting Flock’s surveillance equipment.

“I think our country is in a kind of uniquely anti-surveillance environment right now, which is to say that, in a time where it seems there is nothing that is not partisan, opposition to government surveillance is nonpartisan,” said Chad Marlow, a privacy and surveillance lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.

In April, elected officials in Dane County, Wisconsin, voted overwhelmingly to cut off funding for two dozen surveillance cameras the sheriff’s department had been leasing from Flock Safety.

Anger over the cameras spread on Nextdoor, Facebook and other social media platforms, fueling the nearly unanimous vote by the Dane County Board of Supervisors.

“There’s a public safety issue here, but there is also a privacy issue,” Supervisor Chad Kemp said. “There are serious concerns about individuals who can be monitored without their knowledge, or if it is even constitutional or ethical to track people without a warrant.”

According to Deflock, a grassroots organization that opposes the cameras, more than 70 cities have canceled or rejected Flock camera contracts or deactivated their equipment, among them: Sedona, Arizona; Denver; Windsor, Connecticut; Kent, Ohio; Warrenton, Virginia; and Lockhart, Texas. 

The cameras were initially marketed as automated license plate readers, but the technology has advanced and the cameras’ role has expanded well beyond that, company officials boasted.“We have cameras that are used for everything from illegal dumping to drug houses to hotels that are just big problems,” Kevin Cox, an engineer with Flock Safety, told prospective customers in a demonstration video of Flock’s AI-powered Condor Camera. “There are endless, endless uses for what we can do with these things.”

The Flock Condor cameras have pan, zoom and tilt capabilities and provide real-time streaming and tracking of both vehicles and humans.

The expanded surveillance, Mr. Cox said, is “just coverage for cities that are looking to make sure they have a video record of what happened in town square or on these main drives.”

According to the ACLU, between 80,000 and 100,000 Flock cameras installed across the U.S. perform more than 20 billion scans monthly.

They can be spotted on highways, at intersections, in neighborhoods and apartment complexes, and in the parking lots of businesses such as Lowe’s and Walmart.

Flock is also promoting “automated drone security,” which, the company advertises, deploys a drone to an area “when an alert occurs … getting eyes on the incident immediately.”

The ACLU and other critics labeled the technology a form of dragnet surveillance and warrantless tracking “of everyone on the road.”

The data can be shared nationwide by police and others with access to the recordings.

“All an administrator needs to do is click a button,” ACLU officials said. “What this means in practice is that officers with the Florida Highway Patrol and those in Dallas, Texas, Jacksonville, Florida, Columbus, Ohio, and thousands of other locations can track where and when Massachusetts residents are driving, even when they are in Massachusetts — all without demonstrating any probable cause or even reasonable suspicion that those people have committed a crime.”

Some of the cities that nixed the cameras cited concerns that local and state law enforcement were sharing surveillance data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which used it to locate and track immigrants who are in the U.S. without permission. The Homeland Security Department has been able to access the material through cooperating local and state officials who lease the cameras.


The FBI wants to gain more direct access to the data.

In May, the FBI put out a solicitation for a contractor that can enable the bureau’s access to the nation’s entire network of surveillance cameras, the vast majority of which are operated by Flock Safety but include a handful of other camera companies.

The bureau cited a “crucial need for accessible [license plate readers] to provide a diverse and reliable range of collections across the United States,” according to the contract proposal reviewed by The Washington Times.

The data “should be available across major highways and in an array of locations for maximum usefulness to law enforcement,” the FBI said.

The bureau and other law enforcement agencies say the data is critical in helping solve property crimes, locate stolen vehicles and track down missing people. The data is also used in court to successfully prosecute criminals.

Walmart uses Flock Safety systems in its parking lots “to ensure safety, theft prevention and fraud reduction,” company officials said. 

More....





Russian troops advance in last Ukrainian stronghold in Donbass


Russian troops advance in last Ukrainian stronghold in Donbass (VIDEO)
RT


Russian troops are nearing the end of the search-and-destroy operation to eliminate the remnants of the Ukrainian garrison in the city of Konstantinovka, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced.

The hostilities in the city, located in the northwest of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), have intensified in recent weeks. Russian forces have advanced to the city from multiple directions, effectively cutting it in half and disorganizing the Ukrainian defenses in the area.

Konstantinovka is part of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, a string of settlements in the northern part of the DPR. The agglomeration has been heavily fortified by Ukrainian forces, which effectively turned it into one large fortress. Konstantinovka is located roughly 15km to the south-east of Kramatorsk, with the town of Druzhkovka lying in between.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said troops were close to completing “the clearing of the city of scattered units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” Recent media reports have suggested the Ukrainian command has effectively written off the remaining troops, abandoning attempts to bring in reinforcements while denying the garrison’s repeated requests to withdraw.

Over the past 24-hour period, Ukraine has lost up to 80 servicemen in the city, over 20 soft and armored vehicles, and three artillery pieces, as well as 25 ground unmanned vehicles, the ministry stated. Apart from that, Russian forces have destroyed some 27 Ukrainian UAV command and control points, it added.

Drone footage from the city shared by the Defense Ministry features multiple Ukrainian ground unmanned vehicles, apparently used to bring supplies to the blocked troops, hunted down and destroyed by Russian FPV drones. The video also shows a group of Ukrainian soldiers taking cover in a residential house and ending up being subjected to artillery shelling.

The commander of the international brigade ‘Pyatnashka,’ Akhra Avidzba, told the Russian news outlet Vesti later in the day that the city had already effectively come under Russian control. Avidzba, better known by his call sign ‘Abkhaz,’ pointed at the change of rhetoric in Ukraine, which had long-portrayed Konstantinovka as a part of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk fortress.

“The rhetoric before was that it’s an agglomeration of fortresses and cities that will form a unified line of defense, but now they’re saying, ‘So what if we lost Kostiantynivka or will lose it? Like, nothing depends on it.’ This rhetoric alone makes it clear they’ve already abandoned Konstantinovka,” Avidzba said.


Kiev ablaze as Russia targets Ukrainian war infrastructure (VIDEOS)

The Ukrainian capital and several other cities across the country were hit by a combined drone and missile strike early on Thursday morning, in what the Russian Defense Ministry called a response to terrorist attacks by Vladimir Zelensky’s government.

The first wave of blasts in Kiev was heard around 2 AM local time, followed by more explosions in multiple waves until 4 AM. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko urged residents to seek shelter as the capital’s air defenses engaged incoming targets.

Klitschko has since described the strikes as “the largest attack” the city had experienced since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, stating the capital was hit by ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. “It was a terrible night for Kiev,” he wrote on Telegram.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the strike with “high-precision long-range weapons”targeted “military industry enterprises and facilities and the fuel and energy facilities in the city of Kiev and the Kiev region, as well as military airfields and other infrastructure in Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkasy, and Chernigov regions.”

The Russian military later released a detailed list of targets. Among them was a plant producing guidance systems for Ukrainian drones and missiles, a factory producing long-range drones and loitering munitions, a plant involved in upgrading Ukrainian armor and producing military optics, an electronic warfare equipment producer, a drone parts depot, a fuel depot, and several gas facilities that the statement said provided energy supplies for weapons manufacturing.

Videos shared on social media show numerous blasts and fires in and around the Ukrainian capital.

Klitschko reported extensive damage across all districts of the city. Ukrainian officials claimed that many of the missiles struck residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, killing at least 20 people and injuring around 90 more.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stressed that the attack was “not about civilian Kiev, but about the military strategic targets being used by the Kiev regime to kill civilians.”