Iran Vows ‘Devastating’ Response as US Threatens Crushing Sanctions Designed to ‘Collapse’ Regime

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Iran threatened “devastating” consequences if the US moves ahead with imposing crippling sanctions against the regime — after the Trump administration pledged to hit the Islamic Republic with the toughest financial penalties in history.

“With preparedness across land, sea, air, air defense and cyberspace, Iran’s armed forces will respond to the enemy’s new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses,” Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, said on Iranian media.

The US and Iran cobbled together two cease-fire deals, one in April and the other in June, with the goal of restoring the normal flow of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and ending the nearly six-month-old war — but both were short-lived.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC Friday that the US would “collapse the regime,” likening the naval blockade reimposed on Iran in July and the impending “toughest sanctions in history” as a “one-two punch.”

President Trump warned any country providing “any type of lifeline to Iran” would face economic consequences, and Bessent said he would “talk about exactly what we’re going to do” at a press conference on Monday. (Read more from “Iran Vows ‘Devastating’ Response as US Threatens Crushing Sanctions Designed to ‘Collapse’ Regime” HERE)

Liquid Death and Jason Kelce’s Garage Beer Mockingly Call on Americans to Save Urine to Cool AI Data Centers

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Liquid Death and Garage Beer have launched a campaign mocking AI data centers by asking Americans to donate their urine as a water-saving fix for the resource hogs popping up around the country.

AdWeek reports that Liquid Death and Garage Beer have teamed up on a campaign called “We Want Your Pee,” which pitches human urine as an alternative to the millions of gallons of water that AI data centers typically use for cooling.

The campaign launched with a “P[EE].S.A.-style” ad starring Garage Beer co-owner and former NFL player Jason Kelce. The spot opens with Kelce at his toilet, where he reveals he is collecting his urine in a bottle. “AI data centers waste millions of gallons of water,” Kelce says to the camera. He then walks into a wooded meadow and begins singing, “We want your pee, please give us your pee,” joined by Murder Man, Liquid Death’s mascot, who is also holding a jar of urine.

A crowd gathers, each person carrying a container of their own, singing, “Let’s pee on computers, together, to save humanity.” The group eventually arrives at a post office to mail their contributions to the nearest data center.

The ad will run on Liquid Death’s and Garage Beer’s social media channels as well as connected TV. (Read more from “Liquid Death and Jason Kelce’s Garage Beer Mockingly Call on Americans to Save Urine to Cool AI Data Centers” HERE)

Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Allows Work on Trump’s $400M White House Ballroom to Continue for now

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Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday allowed the White House to continue construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project for now, as the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration’s emergency request to intervene in lawsuits over the project.

The temporary order comes hours before lower-court rulings would have forced a halt to aboveground construction. It will remain in place until the court issues a more durable decision, though the one-page document does not detail his reasoning or indicate when another ruling will be handed down.

The order pauses the decision of a Washington-based judge who found that work must stop because Trump didn’t get congressional approval. It was signed by Roberts because he oversees appeals of cases filed in the capital.

The case comes before the nation’s highest court as Trump, a Republican, exercises unparalleled assertions of presidential power and increasingly seeks to mold the capital in his own image. (Read more from “Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Allows Work on Trump’s $400M White House Ballroom to Continue for now” HERE)

The Children Are Dead. Why Are We Crying For Lindsay Clancy?

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You’d have to be living on an island with no cell service and zero connection to the outside world not to see the constant stream of white women doing choreographed dances, recording tearful rants, or — best of all — holding a helpless baby while they cry for the camera with tags like “Same Lindsay.”

Really? REALLY?

If you’re saying “Same Lindsay” while holding a helpless baby, then please add your demographic information to your video so I can call the police. These women should be investigated. Their children should be checked on. A mother who looks into a camera, holds her own child, and publicly identifies with a woman who strangled three of hers is not making an empathy statement. She is raising a red flag.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: while I don’t enjoy every downside of being in my 40s, I am grateful to be part of a generation where accountability and human decency still mean something.

My first experience with public death and trauma came when I was six years old. A nun rolled a television on a cart into the cafeteria at St. Ursula’s so the entire school — kindergarten through eighth grade — could watch the Challenger explode live. We watched it. Nothing was said. Then we all went back to our classrooms. That night, my dad asked if I had seen it and if I understood what happened. He made sure I knew that seven innocent astronauts had died and that it was a time for the country to mourn.

I am lucky to have had him. I came of age watching the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine, and September 11th unfold in that order. By the time I was 22, empathy had a permanent place in my body, and accountability and justice sat high on my list of priorities. (Read more from “The Children Are Dead. Why Are We Crying For Lindsay Clancy?” HERE)

Photo credit: Boston 25 News/YouTube

Feds Confront Eric Swalwell At Airport, Seize Electronics Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe

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The FBI stopped former Rep. Eric Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport this weekend and seized his electronics, two sources confirmed to the Daily Caller.

Following the seizure, agents also executed a search warrant at his Washington, D.C., home, the sources added. Swalwell is at the center of a federal criminal investigation.

The White House Transparency Task Force declassified documents Monday that show Swalwell had “physical relations” with Christine Fang, known as “Fang Fang,” at least twice.

The former representative resigned from Congress earlier this year after facing a slew of sexual misconduct allegations. At the time, Swalwell was also mounting a bid for California governor and had emerged as a potential frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

One former staffer who accused Swalwell of misconduct alleged that after a spring 2024 night out in New York, she woke up to Swalwell having sex with her in his hotel bed. She continued to alleged that he refused to stop when she said no, according to CNN. The allegation prompted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to open an investigation into the congressman. (Read more from “Feds Confront Eric Swalwell At Airport, Seize Electronics Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe” HERE)

Sen. Darline Graham Fumbles Basic National Security Question in Debate Flop: ‘I’m not that informed’

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Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) had two brutal stumbles Tuesday night during her primary runoff debate against Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) — admitting to being “not that informed” on vital national security issues and bungling South Carolina’s population.

The sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham had been asked whether she considers “Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States” and “if so, why.”

“I’m just gonna be honest here,” Graham replied. “I’m not that informed on national security. But I do support the military.”

“My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military,” she added. “My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I support the military.”

The US has long maintained a complex policy of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan as part of an effort to deter a Chinese invasion of the self-governing island while maintaining good relations with Beijing. (Read more from “Sen. Darline Graham Fumbles Basic National Security Question in Debate Flop: ‘I’m not that informed’” HERE)

How US Military Funding Propelled China’s Robot Dogs

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China’s Unitree Robotics — among the world’s biggest producers of humanoid and quadruped robots — based designs for its most successful robot dogs on innovations funded by the U.S. military, according to a former U.S. defense technology official and three top researchers involved in the project.

Unitree’s $1,600 Go2 model, launched in 2023, helped the company rapidly dominate the global quadruped robot market — its Shanghai IPO has drawn frenzied demand. Another Unitree robot has been shown on Chinese state television, armed and accompanying People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops on an exercise.

These robots draw on breakthroughs in quadruped movement financed by the U.S. DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and other military programs, the researchers and the former official told Reuters.

The Army-funded project turned into, “basically, the first Unitree robot that had any kind of scale,” said Gavin Kenneally, a former University of Pennsylvania researcher involved in the program.

Ben Katz, who worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab, among a consortium of universities financed by the military programs, said the dimensions of Unitree’s popular Go series were “to the millimeter” almost identical to a groundbreaking robot he helped develop called Mini Cheetah. (Read more from “How US Military Funding Propelled China’s Robot Dogs” HERE)

US Demands China Release ‘Wrongfully Detained’ American who was Lured to Country, then Arrested on Spying Charges

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The State Department called on China to release a US citizen on Thursday who it says was wrongfully detained on espionage charges.

Min Zin, an academic who leads a think-tank focused on Myanmar, was detained by Beijing on June 3 after it extended him an invitation to attend an academic conference along the border in Yunnan.

“Secretary Rubio has formally designated US citizen Min Zin as wrongfully detained,” Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, wrote on X.

“We call on Beijing to release all U.S. citizens arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China,” he added. “The safety and security of U.S. citizens is the State Department’s top priority.”

Zin is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, with the American founding the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP) — Myanmar in 2016. (Read more from “US Demands China Release ‘Wrongfully Detained’ American who was Lured to Country, then Arrested on Spying Charges” HERE)

True Scale of Meghan and Harry’s US Political Plans Revealed — from Request for Biden Oval Office Meeting to Eyeing Senate Seat

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Delusional Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sought US political clout far beyond the dreams of any British royal since King George III, The Post has learned, with the Duchess of Sussex angling to take over the Senate seat held by Kamala Harris ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Weeks before Democrat Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump, a source says, Markle requested a sitdown with California Gov. Gavin Newsom because she “wanted to be considered to be appointed” to the seat held by Harris, which she vacated just before becoming vice president on Jan. 20, 2021. The source added that the discussion was publicly described as a welcome-to-California chat to head off potential inquiries.

It is unclear just how far Markle’s appeal got with Newsom, who appointed California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to replace Harris two days before her swearing-in as Biden’s second-in-command. Padilla subsequently won election to a full six-year term in 2022.

A Sussex source firmly denied that Markle wanted to take over the Harris seat, while a rep for Newsom did not respond to a request for comment.

A memorandum from Newsom’s office that surfaced in February 2021 confirmed the governor had an “introductory meeting” with the royal couple on Oct. 19, 2020, though the specific topics discussed were not disclosed and the Democrat’s team characterized it as a social occasion. It was not immediately clear whether Markle asked to meet with Newsom separately post-election. (Read more from “True Scale of Meghan and Harry’s US Political Plans Revealed — from Request for Biden Oval Office Meeting to Eyeing Senate Seat” HERE)

Darth Vader Crashes San Diego Hearing to Defend Flock Spy Cams: ‘This is what the emperor needs’

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The dark side has entered the surveillance debate.

A man dressed as Darth Vader crashed a San Diego City Council hearing Wednesday and delivered a bizarre, Star Wars-themed defense of the city’s controversial Flock cameras, complete with the Sith Lord’s trademark heavy breathing blasting through the council microphone.

The council addressed the masked man simply as “Darth Vader” as he took the podium during a Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting.

“This is what the emperor needs. This technology will help us find the rebel scum and the hidden base on Hoth,” he said, invoking the frozen planet from “The Empire Strikes Back.”

Then things got even stranger.

The costumed speaker urged officials to use the cameras to track “rebel scum” as they moved “from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium.” (Read more from “Darth Vader Crashes San Diego Hearing to Defend Flock Spy Cams: ‘This is what the emperor needs’” HERE)