Prepare for the Oil Crisis
July 17th, 2026Via: Upper Echelon:
Research Credit: OF
Truth Social to Sell Trading Firms ‘Fastest’ Access to Trump’s Posts
July 16th, 2026It’s not enough that Trump’s inner circle is able to front load cupcakes based on his posts. He now wants to monetize slightly faster access to that information so others can front load—you know, after his inner circle has front loaded.
Keep in mind that, “A significantly faster pace than a regular push notification” might mean in the low dozens of milliseconds faster, which is an eternity when algorithmic trading systems are concerned.
Via: Reuters:
Trump ?Media & Technology Group, has unveiled a paid-for, licensed data feed that will give banks and trading firms “the fastest” access to posts from influential Truth ?Social accounts, such as President Donald Trump’s, whose posts often move global markets.
The product, called “Truth API,” will deliver posts from the 10 most influential accounts to customers at a significantly faster pace than a regular push notification on the Truth Social platform, a spokesperson said.
Related:
The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History, by the Numbers
They Made a Killing: The Use of Knowledge of Covert Operations in the Stock Market
U.S. Launched Hellfire Missiles at Oil Tanker Attempting to Reach Iran’s Kharg Island
July 16th, 2026Via: Independent:
The US has launched Hellfire missiles at an oil tanker attempting to reach Iran’s Kharg Island, after Donald Trump warned Tehran it “better behave” amid renewed strikes over the Strait of Hormuz.
The unladen tanker had ignored multiple warnings before the US military fired the missiles into the ship’s smokestack, Central Command (Centcom) said. Kharg Island is home to a terminal through which Tehran exports most of its oil.
It came as US forces carried out two waves of attacks on Iran’s coastal defences and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, an escalation which has come days after the collapse of a fragile truce collapsed.
Iran struck back by targeting US military sites in neighboring countries in what it called an “existential war” with America. Tehran is also threatening to shut off more regional energy exports, as fears of a resumption of full-scale war grow.
Vance Admits Epstein Had CIA and Mossad Connections
July 16th, 2026Why is this finally being admitted by the Vice President of the United States in 2026?
Just trying to draw a line under it all? Alas, nothing to see here anymore:
Vance, who described himself as a ‘conspiracy theorist’ on Epstein, said that anything tying the pedophile to spy agencies was likely destroyed after 2006 – when the financier was first arrested.
Via: Daily Mail:
JD Vance has claimed he is the target of an Israeli-funded propaganda campaign over his Iran peace push, and that Jeffrey Epstein had ties to the ‘highest levels’ of Mossad.
The vice president made the explosive allegations during a nearly three-hour sit-down with podcaster Joe Rogan.
Vance pointed to a Time magazine report he said proved American influencers were being paid to attack the Iran deal. The report notes that money has flowed through a former Trump campaign operative and is bankrolled by elements of the Israeli government.
‘My response to that is, well, go to hell,’ Vance said of those taking the cash to smear him. The vice president, who complained he has been branded an anti-Semite, declared that Israel is losing the public opinion battle in America.
He also said that ‘figures’ inside the Israeli government are manipulating American public opinion to keep the war going ‘indefinitely.’
Vance then shifted to the administration’s handling of the Epstein scandal, revealing that the disgraced financier ‘clearly had connections to the highest levels of American intelligence’ and ‘Israeli intelligence.’
When Rogan noted that most people believe Epstein was working for Mossad, the vice president did not dispute it. Vance noted that it was Mossad ‘or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or another country or both.’
Vance, who described himself as a ‘conspiracy theorist’ on Epstein, said that anything tying the pedophile to spy agencies was likely destroyed after 2006 – when the financier was first arrested.
Microsoft Generates Device-Specific ID Linked to User’s Microsoft Account, Telemetry Can Report All Websites Visited to Microsoft
July 15th, 2026Via: tom’sHARDWARE:
The Internet is buzzing over news that 19-year-old Estonian “hacker” Peter Stokes got nabbed by the authorities and extradited to the U.S. on digital crime charges, mostly thanks to Microsoft Windows’ built-in telemetry. The FBI seemingly subpoenaed Microsoft, which coughed up telemetry logs that contained both Stokes’ GDID (Global Device Identifier) and websites he visited using his main Windows machine.
The existence of GDID isn’t new by itself, as Windows telemetry’s data collection has been extensively analyzed and reported on. It’s also been known, and publicly explained by Microsoft, that the extended telemetry modes (Full/Optional instead of Required/Basic) can upload lists of URLs analyzed by SmartScreen and Defender, together with the GDID. In fact, using the Edge browser in this setup can even send every visited URL. The court documents do not reveal which exact mechanism triggered the telemetry upload, though.
This data collection has long been the source of heated debate and general public disgust. Even though the data is genuinely useful and necessary for debugging (by Microsoft or systems administrators in enterprise environments), the fact that it comes enabled by default in Windows Home and Professional editions is questionable. The fact that those versions don’t have a simple, user-facing “Off” switch to fully disable telemetry also adds insult to injury.
The Peter Stokes arrest appears to be the first public case where these Windows GDIDs were both used as a tracking identifier and contained telemetry data including some of the URLs the defendant visited. The case also prompted a renewed analysis of the GDID by a security researcher that you might want to look into. From what we can ascertain, it’s likely Stokes had his Windows telemetry set to Optional/Full, as Required/Basic doesn’t appear to transmit URLs by default.
IBM Stock Loses 25%, Worst Day on Record
July 15th, 2026Via: CNBC:
International Business Machines shares plummeted 25% on Tuesday after the hardware, software and consulting provider released preliminary second-quarter results that fell short of expectations.
The stock logged its worst day on record, sinking further than its previous worst day of Oct. 19, 1987, when shares fell 23.7%. Records track trading activity back to 1968, though IBM has been a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange since 1916.
The tech company reported adjusted earnings of $2.93 a share on revenue of $17.2 billion, below analysts’ expectations for earnings of $3.01 a share and revenue of $17.86 billion, according to FactSet.
CEO Arvind Krishna blamed the shortfall on weakness in the software and infrastructure business, as clients shifted spending toward hardware purchases such as memory chips.
Japan Tests Reusable Rocket Prototype
July 14th, 2026Via: The Mainichi:
Japan’s space agency tested a prototype of a reusable rocket in Akita Prefecture in the country’s northeast on Saturday, paving the way for cutting the costs of future space launches.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s RV-X rocket landed successfully after reaching a maximum height of around 11 meters and moving about 16 meters horizontally in the test conducted at a facility in Noshiro. The RV-X flew for about 40 seconds.
Data Centers Have Already Hiked Electricity Prices on the Public by $23 Billion
July 14th, 2026Via: Fortune:
Many major tech companies have pledged to pay their fair share of the costs associated with generating and transmitting more electricity to serve large data centers. But ratepayers across the United States are worried about the potential costs they might have to bear. That’s because it’s not immediately clear how the cost of data centers’ energy will be calculated. The effects of price increases are likely just beginning, and their full effects may not be felt for years.
For example, a recent report by the organization that monitors the PJM market, an area that encompasses all or part of 14 mid-Atlantic and Midwest states, concluded that expected power demand from data centers was a primary reason for $23 billion in customer price increases that will last until at least the end of 2028.
Painted E-Tattoos: Working Electrodes, “Future of Wearable Biosensors”
July 14th, 2026Via: Ars Technica:
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have developed a novel conductive ink that can be painted directly onto the skin in colorful custom designs, turning into a functional electrode for biomonitoring after drying.
2024 Cocaine Bust in Spain Leads All the Way to Wall Street, Dubai
July 14th, 2026Via: ThePrint:
It was supposed to be a cargo of bananas from Latin America. What Spanish police found on the ship in the Mediterranean port of Algeciras instead were 13 tons of cocaine.
The drug bust in the fall of 2024 became the biggest in Spain’s history at the time. The ensuing investigation has now revealed what authorities allege was a financial network used to launder money running all the way to the founders of a special-purpose acquisition company in Newport Beach, California, that raised $200 million from investors just last year.
The case has all the ingredients of a movie: a drug kingpin, a corrupt senior police officer with millions in cash reportedly stashed in his walls, and links to Spanish royalty. Yet the allegations are also striking in how they link financiers with Wall Street connections, an Irish fintech trading crypto assets, luxury Dubai real estate and multiple offshore lenders.
