THE NEWS

State lawmakers in West Virginia’s Freedom Caucus are seeking to ban AI-powered Flock surveillance cameras statewide, arguing the technology violates citizens’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy.”The West Virginia Freedom Caucus strongly opposes the unchecked expansion of automated surveillance technologies, including Flock Safety camera systems, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), AI-powered facial recognition, multimodal vehicle recognition, and emerging ‘gun detection’ software that claims to identify armed citizens based on body shape or movement,” West Virginia Delegate Chris Anders, the Chairman of West Virginia’s Freedom Caucus, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.”These technologies represent a dramatic expansion of government surveillance that is fundamentally at odds with the Fourth Amendment,” Anders added.THE SURVEILLANCE CAMERA ON YOUR STREET CORNER: LAWFUL SPYING OR CONSTITUTIONALLY PROBLEMATIC?”No state or local government should be mass tracking the daily movements of law-abiding citizens without a warrant. Mass surveillance has no place in a free society,” Anders also said in a statement posted to the caucus’ X account.The caucus is calling on all state municipalities to immediately remove automated license plate readers such as the ones run by the security company Flock Safety.”The Constitution does not disappear because technology advances,” Anders added.The caucus plans on combatting the cameras and surveillance technologies by reintroducing a previously failed legislative measure called the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act.The bill would prohibit a series of AI-powered surveillance technologies from being used by law enforcement and other agencies in the state. The technologies it would ban include facial recognition software, surveillance drones, license plate readers and more.”For two consecutive years, the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act has been introduced in the West Virginia Legislature, yet it has failed to reach the Governor’s desk. That must change,” Anders also said, placing blame for the bill’s previous failures at the feet of the state’s legislative leadership.”Despite growing public concern over government surveillance, Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Judiciary Chairman JB Akers declined to bring the bill forward for consideration. As a result, the House was never given the opportunity to debate or vote on the legislation,” Anders wrote in an email to Fox News Digital.”If House leadership continues to deny the people’s elected representatives the opportunity to vote on this fundamental constitutional issue, the Freedom Caucus will use every parliamentary tool available to insist that the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act receive an up-or-down vote in both chambers. Constitutional rights should never be quietly buried in committee,” Anders added.Chairman Akers, in a response to Anders’ comments, told Fox News Digital, “We actually passed a bill last session that limits the amount of surveillance law enforcement may engage in on private property. Unfortunately, Chris Anders submits sloppily drafted bills given to him by outside groups. In the 4th Amendment context, his proposals would prevent even normal law enforcement actions that conservatives support.””Last session, he tried to amend a bill in a way that would have prevented police from entering property even if a dead body were in plain view in the front yard. Bluntly, his idea was dumb,” Akers said of Anders’ proposal draft. “He left me no choice but to say that. If he’s going to blame others for failing to get his bills through, then he needs to do better work. Frankly, I think he’d rather see his bad bills fail so he can then scream RINO for clicks.”Other Freedom Caucus members also objected to the Flock cameras.”The Fourth Amendment was written specifically to stop the government from engaging in generalized surveillance and warrantless searches,” West Virginia Freedom Caucus Secretary Henry Dillon said in a statement. He argued that “Flock cameras don’t just identify criminals — they create a database documenting where law-abiding citizens worship, seek medical care, conduct business, and travel.””That is fundamentally incompatible with a free society,” he said.JOHNSON FACES GOP REVOLT OVER WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE POWERS AHEAD OF KEY VOTEAnother Freedom Caucus member, state Sen. Craig Hart, pointed to a series of alleged police abuses involving Flock cameras in Georgia, including a 2025 incident in which Braselton Police Department Chief Michael Steffman was arrested for allegedly using automated license plate readers to stalk and harass people.According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Atlas of Surveillance, at least five West Virginia municipalities incorporate Flock Safety license plate readers, while other municipalities like Wheeling and the state capital of Charleston operate drones, camera registries and intelligence fusion centers.The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the West Virginia city of Huntington after its mayor and city council agreed to a $2.1 million deal with Flock for AI-powered surveillance equipment.”If the Court allows the contract to proceed, Huntington would be blanketed in license plate recognition cameras with vehicle fingerprint technology, live video cameras, gunshot detection audio devices, and even automatically dispatched drones,” the ACLU wrote in a statement.The ACLU said more than 50 citizens attended the city council meeting to voice their disapproval of the agreement.Meanwhile, Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell argued that Flock cameras in other states have already helped catch West Virginia suspects.Recounting a pursuit of a murder suspect who allegedly shot a woman in the head near Huntington, Farrell said “he was going back to Michigan, and luckily for us, some other city had license plate reader cameras that caught the car.””That gave us the lead that led to his arrest in Michigan. So it helps our law enforcement do its work faster, more efficiently, and that’s the kind of success that I think we need more of,” the mayor said.Despite the safety argument, Anders and his caucus insist the technology violates the Constitution.”The Founders did not fight a revolution so government could monitor innocent citizens everywhere they travel,” Anders told Fox News Digital. “George Orwell’s 1984 was intended as a warning, not an instruction manual. We should be striving for more 1776, not more 1984.””The Fourth Amendment Restoration Act does not prevent police from investigating crime. It simply requires government to do what the Constitution has required for over two centuries: obtain a warrant based upon probable cause before engaging in targeted surveillance of Americans,” Anders concluded.In a statement to Fox News Digital, Flock Safety maintained that the company protects personal privacy and claimed to support legislation that sets guardrails for license plate readers.”Flock strongly supports legislation that creates clear guardrails for how license plate recognition data is used and shared, while preserving the effectiveness of an important public safety tool,” a company spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “These systems play a critical role in helping law enforcement solve crimes, locate missing people, and keep communities safe. Taking away or weakening access to this technology would have real consequences for public safety. We believe the right approach is not to eliminate an effective tool, but to regulate it responsibly. State lawmakers should establish strong safeguards that ensure accountability, oversight, and responsible use, while preserving the ability of law enforcement to use these technologies in ways that communities expect and rely on. We stand ready to be a resource as lawmakers consider these important issues.””Flock customers retain full ownership and control of their data. Flock does not sell data. Access is limited to authorized users, and agencies determine whether to share data with other law enforcement agencies through opt-in sharing relationships that they can change or revoke at any time. Data is automatically deleted after 30 days by default,” the company spokesperson concluded.Fox News Digital also contacted Morrisey and Hanshaw for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Guest post by Christopher R. Barron
Recently, an OpenAI model – one more powerful than anything released to the public – successfully and autonomously did something we were told could never happen – it broke out of its sandbox (a computer with no internet access), in order to find the answer to a test problem it had been given.
To do this, it found previously unknown software bugs that allowed it to reach an OpenAI computer it wasn’t supposed to be able to access. Then it started hacking other computers on OpenAI’s networks until it found one that had Internet access.
After gaining Internet access, the AI model went where it could find the answers to the question – successfully hacking into the AI company Hugging Face. The AI model used several hacking techniques together, including using a stolen password and finding several totally new security bugs in Hugging Face’s computers, allowing the AI model to take control of those computers.
This isn’t the plot to a dystopian Hollywood summer blockbuster, this is the frightening reality of the world we now live in.
If this lab break sounds familiar, it should. It is the tech equivalent of the Wuhan lab leak, which we were told would never and could never happen
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had the privilege and honor of working for the late Dr. Vladimir “Zev” Zelenko. Zev was one of the most courageous voices for medical freedom, a man who put everything on the line to stand up and demand the truth about COVID – where it came from, how to treat it, and the concerns about the rushed experimental vaccine.
Dr. Zelenko was rightfully concerned about the power of the globalists and their ability to destroy humanity as we know it. Big AI is just the latest weapon for the globalists to deploy in their un-ending quest to remake the planet.
In an interview before his death, Zev said:
“What we’re seeing is the coming together of global dominance under the control of a small group of sociopaths. So it’s not surprising what’s happening. And we are letting it happen. And this has been in the works for four decades so we are in the very verge of global enslavement unless people wake up.”
The small group of sociopaths that Zev warned us about are the very people behind the development of these dangerous and out-of-control AI systems.
The lab leak in Wuhan was used by the globalists to exert unchecked power of humanity for a couple of years – the next AI lab leak could give these globalists unchecked power, not for a couple of years, but for the rest of time.
We are incredibly fortunate that this lab leak was contained quickly, but there is absolutely nothing stopping this from happening again.
And the big AI CEOs are gleefully telling the world that this is only the beginning.
Unbelievably, what happened isn’t covered by any existing regulation. These potentially dangerous unreleased AI models are being developed with absolutely no oversight and no guardrails.
What is probably most terrifying is that this isn’t just one AI developer, indeed OpenAI was following industry “best practices,” and those practices resulted in this dangerous lab leak,
Whistleblowers from OpenAI and other AI companies have been warning that this might happen for years. Indeed, AI whistleblowers have warned that the next AI lab leak could result in a runaway AI system that cannot be controlled.
These whistleblowers have been dismissed by the big AI billionaires and their hordes of DC lobbyists. AI boosters like David Sacks have urged President Trump to allow for “permissionless innovation” – calling for a system that would allow the big AI companies to do whatever they want, whenever they want, and however they want to do it – without any guardrails at all.
We are running out of time to act. Congress must immediately act to put in place guardrails to ensure that these dangerous AI systems are never developed.
Zev warned us about what was happening, he told us that we have begun to worship the god of science, and the god of technology, the god of money and the god of power, but we have forgotten God the creator. It is not too late to heed Zev’s warning and stop the big AI globalists before humanity itself is sacrificed.
Christopher R. Barron is the President of Right Turn Strategies and served as the VP for Public Relations for Zelenko Labs during the pandemic.

The post AI is the Globalist’s Next Tool appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., speaks on Night 1 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear demanded Monday that Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell prove he is capable of serving or resign.
In a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, Beshear requested that McConnell be transparent with the public after he missed 38 consecutive votes during his hospitalization and rehabilitation. The governor said he will ask Senate Majority Leader John Thune to investigate McConnell’s condition and possibly vote to expel him.
“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote. “I am further sending this letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Per our research, a vacancy in the Senate occurs when a senator dies, resigns, or is expelled by a vote of the Senate itself. If you are unwilling to voluntarily show that you still have the capacity to serve, I will insist Leader Thune fully investigate your condition, report it to the American people, and begin the process if warranted.”
“All of this speculation and even this letter could have been avoided with a minimal amount of transparency,” Beshear continued.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear gave @SenMcConnell an ultimatum: provide proof of your capacity to serve, or RESIGN. @DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/spo5Ml6nJ9
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) July 28, 2026

Beshear argued that McConnell cannot be a fully private person while he serves in public office.
“I understand anyone’s desire for privacy, but when you run for office and serve as one of the state’s two U.S. senators, you willingly abdicate much of your personal privacy. That’s the deal, and we all know it when we run,” Beshear said.
McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 after being found unconscious at his Washington, D.C., residence. A dispatch call from that date showed paramedics appearing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for a “cardiac arrest.”
McConnell’s office released a few photographs of McConnell in the hospital and assured the public he was recovering well, though they remained silent about his condition. His office released a statement attributed to McConnell on July 12 saying he suffered a fall and contracted pneumonia in the hospital.

NEW — McConnell’s office releases new photo of him and his wife Elaine Chao. Photo was taken yesterday, per his office
McConnell says in new statement he’s “keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders”
Office of the Attending Physician says McConnell has… pic.twitter.com/l1QVuFEoWJ
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) July 27, 2026

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke,” the statement said. “I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.”
Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings claimed they spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes over the phone about a variety of issues, which McConnell’s office later released in an email obtained by the DCNF.
The DCNF requested a video interview with McConnell on July 8, which the office said they would keep “on hand.” A video interview has yet to be scheduled.
McConnell’s staff released a statement Monday from the senator and the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP). McConnell said he had to miss the Fancy Farm picnic (a Kentucky tradition he first attended 42 years ago) during his recovery, while the OAP said McConnell was not “medically cleared” to return to work as he underwent a “strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation.”
The 84-year-old senator spent several days in the intensive care unit (ICU) between Feb. 2 and Feb. 10 while suffering from flu-like symptoms. Staffers were frequently seen assisting McConnell while walking around Capitol Hill.
The former majority leader suffered several falls and experienced two on-camera freezing episodes in July 2023.
‘Not proof of life, only of deception’: Mitch McConnell releases new photo from hospital, but many think it’s fake

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The parents of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl found dead and dismembered in a Tesla belonging to aspiring singer David “D4vd” Burke, had an ongoing relationship with her accused killer that her parents knew about, according to court testimony.They took steps to separate the two, prosecutors have said, including taking her phone away and calling police when she ran away from home. At one point, he allegedly paid a high schooler $1,000 to deliver her a new phone, according to prosecutors.Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Ferrel testified about damning text message communications Monday as Burke’s week-long preliminary hearing neared an end, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.RISING SINGER DISMEMBERED TEEN WHO THREATENED TO EXPOSE HIM IN KIDDIE POOL WITH CHAINSAW: DABut Burke’s defense team countered that Celeste’s family had consented to at least some of their time together, presenting a permission slip signed by her parents allowing Celeste to travel to London with Burke, according to the outlet. And Celeste’s sister reportedly went with her and Burke on a trip to Las Vegas. In some text messages, Celeste told Burke she was 16 and 18 years old.The judge ultimately accepted the prosecution’s case and cleared a path to trial. Burke could face the death penalty if convicted, although California has a moratorium on carrying out capital punishment. Prosecutors have not yet made the decision on whether they will seek it.Burke is accused of killing Celeste two days before his debut album was released — after prosecutors say she threatened to expose him as a child molester when he turned his attention toward other females.SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS”D4vd allegedly squandered his fame and fortune by brutally killing a young girl because he feared their illicit sexual relationship would ruin his aspiring career,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. “The only headlines that will accompany his stage name from here forward will be about the vicious murder of a young girl.”LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCASTAccording to prosecutors, Burke invited Celeste to his home in Hollywood Hills on April 23, 2025. They said an Uber dropped her off, and that was the last time she was seen alive.FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON XThe next morning, Burke sat for a radio interview about his forthcoming album and then began a series of what prosecutors allege were suspicious online purchased — a shove, three chainsaws, a body bag and a blue kiddie pool. Some of the items were ordered using an alias, according to the Los Angeles DA’s Office.SEND US A TIPBurke is accused of stabbing Celeste to death shortly after she arrived, then dismembering her with a chainsaw in the pool in his garage, where investigators allegedly found DNA consistent with the victim’s.Then on Sept. 8, 2025, Burke’s abandoned Tesla was impounded, and police found Celeste’s decomposing remains inside, according to prosecutors. There were fragments of the pool plastic “embedded” in her remains.Burke is due back in court on Aug. 31 for an arraignment hearing.

Image: Wikimedia Commons (Hung Cao, Acting Secretary of the Navy)
The recent changes instituted by the Navy signal a significant shift toward a more equitable treatment of religious accommodation requests, particularly in light of stark disparities previously highlighted.
An article published by The Gateway Pundit on May 27 brought attention to the case of 1st Lt Schuyler Skipper, who was reportedly being forced out of the Marine Corps due to his religious objections to vaccination. The report underscored a disparity in how the Navy and Marine Corps handle requests for religious accommodations, indicating that the Navy adhered to federal law while the Marine Corps fell short.
In a significant policy shift, just over a month later, on June 30, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao formally enacted SECNAVINST 1730.13, which explicitly revoked the prior instruction, 1730.8B CH-1, referenced in the earlier report.
An unnamed service member remarked that “the article served as the direct catalyst for the sweeping changes in SECNAVINST 1730.1, [since] the timeline and the mechanics match up too cleanly to be a coincidence.”
​Another individual noted that it is quite uncommon for a piece of investigative journalism or a public legal dispute to prompt “such a swift, precise bureaucratic course-correction.”
According to him, “SECNAVINST 1730.13 reads less like a standard policy update and more like a direct order from the Secretariat to Headquarters Marine Corps to stop the exact practices exposed in this article.”
When the specific grievances highlighted by 1stLt Skipper’s defense attorney, Davis Younts, are compared to the text of the instruction, it nearly reveals a clear, clause-by-clause dismantling of the Marine Corps’ playbook.
The “Two Standards” Disparity
The article by J.M. Phelps revealed that the Navy has consistently approved hundreds of vaccine accommodation requests, in stark contrast to the Marine Corps, which maintained an unyielding, blanket denial policy.
In response to this disparity, the Secretary of the Navy has enacted the new directive that removes the authority of the Service Chiefs—specifically, the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps—over vaccine appeals. This centralization of decision-making now rests solely with the Secretariat, specifically the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), effectively imposing a single, uniform standard across both branches of the military.
​Younts brought to light the inconsistencies within the 1st Marine Logistics Group, which has granted more than 50 medical exemptions for vaccinations while claiming a single religious objection was an “impermissible threat” to unit readiness. He characterized this disparity as a clear act of religious discrimination.
​According to Enclosure (3), paragraph 8.c.(4), the new instruction explicitly mandates that if a commander denies a religious request, they must provide a written explanation of how the decision is no less restrictive than exemptions based on non-religious reasons (e.g., medical). This development means that the Marine Corps can no longer assert that a religious exemption undermines unit readiness if it continues to dispense medical exemptions for the same vaccine.
​Weaponizing Performance Evaluations, Denying Promotions, and Boilerplate Language
In a previous article, the Marine Corps was accused of weaponizing the administrative machinery, marring impeccable fitness reports with adverse marks, and denying selection boards for promotion.
​Policy paragraph 5.j. has now prohibited such practices. The instruction states, “A Service Member’s expression of sincerely held religious beliefs may not, insofar as practicable, be used as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.”
The courts also determined that the military routinely relied on “pre-written, boilerplate language” instead of performing the individual assessments required by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The instruction now forces commanders to provide a rigorous, evidence-based, individualized written analysis. If they deny a request, they must cite specific scientific studies or standards and detail an analysis of alternatives. Furthermore, paragraph 5.c. explicitly shifts the burden of proof from the service member to the adjudication authority to prove their case.
Through their outreach to J.M. Phelps, many service members convey their appreciation to Navy Secretary Cao for his unwavering commitment to safeguarding the rights of military personnel. His leadership has fostered policies that embody a commitment to fairness and the preservation of religious freedom within the ranks.
 

@SECNAV, I have received emails, text messages, and phone calls from multiple service members expressing their gratitude for your efforts to address the disparities in vaccine accommodations within the Navy and Marine Corps as outlined in SECNAV INSTRUCTION 1730.13. So many of… pic.twitter.com/hIVCydprGl
— J.M. Phelps (@JMPhelpsLC) July 28, 2026

The post Navy Policy Shift: New Instruction Aims to End Disparities in Vaccine Accommodations for Service Members appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Screenshot of the video published by the Tasmin Stata Agency
First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron have been targeted in a disturbing propaganda video produced by Iranian state media.
The video from Tasnim News Agency encourages supporters of the regime to assassinate members of President Donald Trump’s family.
Entitled “How to Kill Melania Trump,” the video features footage of the First Lady traveling in her motorcade and visiting locations in New York City, including luxury retailers she is known to frequent.
According to the video, Melania’s shopping trips could provide opportunities for “global freedom fighters” to carry out an attack.
It also suggests contaminating clothing purchased by the First Lady with a nerve agent.
The video concludes by threatening Barron Trump, declaring: “This is just the beginning. Barron Trump, wait for us.”
Both Melania and Barron are protected by full-time U.S. Secret Service details, although security threats are always a concern.
The latest threats come after anti-Trump billboards appeared across Tehran last week calling for the deaths of President Trump and members of his family.
One billboard carried the slogan: “Blood for blood.”

Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, published a video identifying locations frequented by US First Lady Melania Trump and encouraging “freedom fighters” and supporters of the Islamic Republic to kill her. The video highlighted places she visits,… pic.twitter.com/ExzvGOw3gs
— Wladimir van Wilgenburg (@vvanwilgenburg) July 27, 2026

President Trump has repeatedly acknowledged he remains an assassination target for the Iranian regime amid ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.
Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Trump switched aircraft while returning from the NATO summit in Turkey because of concerns over Iranian threats.
Trump recently confirmed he had already issued instructions in the event Iran succeeds in assassinating him.
“I’ve been on their list for a long time,” Trump said earlier this month.
“The only thing is, I’ve left instructions, if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before.”
President Trump Reveals the Instructions He Has Left Should Iran Succeed in Assassinating Him

The post Iranian State Media Releases Sick Assassination Video Targeting Melania and Barron Trump (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Apple said it has launched a leasing program for its technology products, including the iPhone, that offers monthly payment options for customers.

Mediators Say US-Iran ‘Close’ To ‘Resurrecting’ Failed MoU Deal, Pushing Oil Lower, Stocks Jump

Update(11:35ET): Here we go again… despite no evident change in war posturing on either side, and despite shipping traffic still largely at a complete standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, Fox News is out with claims that the failed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could be ‘resurrected’… bringing us back to the ‘deal is close’ constant headlines of earlier this summer (though of course the sides were never in reality close – and simply returned to a wider bombing campaign)…

“Mediators of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East believe the U.S. and Iran are close to a deal that would resurrect the failed memorandum of understanding, according to The Times of Israel,” Fox writes, based on the earlier Israeli media article. Negotiators from Pakistan, Egypt and Qatar have been haggling over an Oman-proposed Strait of Hormuz management plan. It will involve fee-collection and is backed by the Gulf states, supposedly. The timing of all of this interesting given Trump is currently hosting Netanyahu at the White House. More from Fox:

Iran and Oman — both of which are situated on the Strait of Hormuz — have reportedly signed off on the proposal advanced by the mediators.

The two sources said the White House was waiting to make a decision until after President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Meanwhile…

JMIC: DATA INDICATES ZERO TANKERS IN EITHER DIRECTION OF HORMUZ

Still, the return to deal ‘optimism’ has pushed oil prices down further – which is perhaps the entire point of US officials anonymously hyping that a deal is ‘close’ once again.

And S&P futures briefly reached High of Day on the headline…

*  *  *

US-Iran attacks have remained paused, and oil prices have extended their declines, as President Trump has claimed Tehran and Washington are now having “very friendly talks” while at the same time suggesting negotiations might not be prolonged.

“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” Trump told Axios, as we highlighted previously. But possibly the most promising development in terms of an off-ramp is that Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz.

This would reportedly include including collecting voluntary fees for using it, ​according to sources who spoke to Reuters Tuesday. The report notes that “The plan could serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the ‌U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.”
via Reuters

However, this also to some degree represents the stalemated situation going back to square one, given the United States has consistently and vehemently opposed any fees being collected that would go to Iran. An immediate response from Tehran on the proposal has not been forthcoming, and talks could drag on for days related to the Oman plan. Already Tehran is adding some strict conditions regarding frozen or seized Iranian assets abroad, per Bloomberg citing state media:

“Any company or country that receives funds from Iranian assets will not be allowed to pass through the strait,” semi-official Tasnim news agency cites a spokesman for Iran’s central military command as saying in response to recent US proposal.

Reuters provides more detail in the following: “The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia’s Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations.”

“The Western diplomat compared it to a voluntary carbon tax for flights, where anyone buying a plane ticket can choose to tick a box if they want to pay to offset their emissions,” the report adds.

The Wall Street Journal has said this represents a “glimmer of hope” as fighting has halted since last Friday:

A U.S. official and mediators said Iran and Oman were still far apart on some issues, including whether to charge fees for transit. But both sides said there was progress, marking the first glimmer of hope for diplomacy since President Trump ordered a new round of military strikes on Iran more than two weeks ago in response to Tehran firing on commercial vessels in the strait. 

…The goal of the Iran-Oman talks is to agree on which route vessels can take through the 22-mile-wide strait. Conflict erupted earlier this month after the U.S. began guiding ships through the strait by hugging the Omani coast, while Iran wants vessels to cross through its territory. 

In the meantime President Trump had laid out Monday while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One his view that there’s “plenty of time” to deal with Iran and that “we are talking right now..” He laid out that while “there’s a good chance that something could happen,” it remains that If not, “we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”

Trump has on Tuesday reiterated to Fox News that Iran understands it will never have a nuclear, and reaffirmed that the two sides are talking.

.@POTUS on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain: “We have the greatest cameras in the world focused on [it]… I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe, it’s not a big problem. We took out their nuclear sites, and we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal. If we don’t make a… pic.twitter.com/PMdXaBkDvu
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 28, 2026
Over in Saudi Arabia, where missile and drone attacks out of Yemen (and possibly Iraq) over past days have damaged Aramco facilities, one regional media source says that “Saudi Aramco has shut down its Jazan oil refinery after a Houthi missile and drone attack damaged key facilities at the site, according to reports.”

“The refinery, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude per day, suffered damage to its Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area. Repairs are expected to be completed and operations to resume by Aug. 15, according to a note from consultancy IIR,” Turkiye Today adds.

Satellite imagery also shows alleged damage to gas storage tanks at Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq facility, most recently to be hit targeted likely by the Houthis:

🔥 Satellite imagery shows damage to multiple gas storage tanks at Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq (Buqayq) refinery. White and black cooling covers are also visible over two storage tanks to prevent spread.
Explore and Compare: https://t.co/TrYreAAiGB#SaudiArabia #Gas #Oil pic.twitter.com/qxwdaNKaBc
— Soar (@SoarAtlas) July 28, 2026
However, there still no official Saudi confirmation of Abqaiq being struck, but only that it was targeted:

🇸🇦 Contrary to social media reports, no Aramco or SPA statement has confirmed that Abqaiq was hit, quantified damage or alerted of a production halt.
Official Saudi report from the Saudi Press Association (SPA) only said drones “attempted to target oil facilities in Eastern… https://t.co/8wTv1uD6oF
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 28, 2026
As for the possibility of where things go from here, amid potential escalation which could see the Houthis further target Saudi oil complexes, President Trump had also warned in the aforementioned Fox interview that the US will “take out” Pickaxe Mountain if it doesn’t reach a deal with Iran.

He noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the US to stay involved in the Iran war, and the two leaders will meet Tuesday in the late morning hours at the White House.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/28/2026 – 11:40

The Fair Share Myth And Other Socialist Fables

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

New York City socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani is back in his element. After admitting that he cannot fulfill his campaign pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mamdani returned to his class warfare narrative. This week, he taunted the city’s highest-earning taxpayers with a letter informing them of another special tax awaiting them in the Big Apple.

As wealthy citizens flee the city, Mamdani strongly suggests that those who remain are going to get burned by his promised “warmth of collectivism.” In doing so, he repeated a socialist myth about how the wealthiest taxpayers are not paying “their fair share.”

Mamdani went on X to tell those with second homes in New York City worth more than $5 million that “you’ve got mail” and a “new pied-a-terre tax.” He gleefully declared, “The best city in the world deserves the best parks, libraries, and schools in the world. That’s only possible when we all pay our fair share.”

The fair share myth is a virtual mantra among socialist and Democratic leaders, from Mamdani to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I address the false claim that the wealthy are not “paying their fair share.”

In fact, the top 10 percent already pay more taxes than the bottom 90 percent combined.

In 2023, the top 1 percent paid an estimated 38.4 percent of all federal individual income taxes. One can certainly raise the need for additional taxes to support public works, but it is simple demagoguery to claim that the wealthy do not pay their fair share when the top 10 percent pay an estimated 75 percent of federal income taxes. The U.S. income tax system is already the most progressive in the developed world, even before additional New York state and city taxes are added in.

The demonization of the wealthy is one of the oldest tactics of politicians seeking to empower themselves by harnessing mob rage.

Combined with pledges of free stuff under socialism, it creates a dangerous delusion among disgruntled citizens.

Another common fable has been repeated by socialists such as Darializa Avila Chevalier, the prison abolitionist who won a recent primary for Congress in New York. This radical, who once boasted how she wiped her hands on the American flag in lieu of a napkin, was pressed on whether there has ever been a “successful model of socialism anywhere in the world outside the U.S., in terms of both human rights and widespread economic justice.”

She responded by citing Sweden and Norway, as other figures such as Sanders have done before her. Indeed, the claim of successful Scandinavian socialist systems is a sort of Marxist bedtime fairytale, told to children about a workers’ paradise in quaint Nordic fishing villages.

But Sweden’s experience only shows the limits of socialism even in a relatively small nation. Decades ago, after disastrous results to its economy, Sweden turned away from the very kind of socialist theories increasingly fashionable in the U.S. today.

Norway has large public welfare systems, it is true. But there is a very specific reason for that: It has enormous direct oil revenues supporting a very small population. The Norwegian state produces about 120 barrels of oil for every man, woman and child living in the country. If the U.S. could produce that much oil per person through a state-controlled entity, it would be more oil than the entire world produces today and worth enough money to replace all federal individual and corporate income tax revenue.

In truth, countries like Denmark and Sweden strongly embrace capitalist principles today. They are listed among the most capitalist nations on Earth — in some rankings ahead of the U.S.

Indeed, many of their leaders have expressed disbelief or amusement at longstanding claims by American leftists about their being socialist nations. In 2015, Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen observed, “I know that some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.”

Likewise, the former Swedish Social Democratic Minister of Finance Kjell‐Olof Feldt said, “That whole thing with democratic socialism was absolutely impossible. It just didn’t work.”

But to candidates eager to prove their revolutionary bona fides, none of that matters.

Even mainstream hopefuls such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) are now making the bizarre claim that capitalism is no longer working. It also does not matter that, in supporting Mamdani’s new tax, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) heralded how it could raise $500 million, despite reports showing a loss of billions in annual revenue as wealthy taxpayers flee the state.

Amid a rash of capital flight, many ask why Mamdani would want to continue taunting the wealthy and portraying them as freeloaders. The fact is, wherever it gets a foothold, socialism becomes self-perpetuating.

Wherever ruinous policies destroy an economy, demand increases for government services and welfare. Citizens become more dependent on government as wealth is diminished.

The most vivid example of the new socialist fabulism came this week from the new British prime minister, Andy Burnham. He declared that he wants to restore the policies of 40 years ago, before the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.

In his own version of promising the “warmth of collectivism,” Burnham declared, “The country surrendered control of the essentials — housing, water, energy, transport — and left people exposed to higher costs.”

Burnham’s account leaves out that the supposed golden age under Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, which he was referencing, led in 1977 to the so-called “winter of discontent.”

Those policies destroyed the British economy, and the nation was faced with the humiliation of being rescued by the International Monetary Fund as if it were some banana republic.

With a record like that, it is little surprise Mamdani and his allies prefer to focus on socialist mythologies rather than realities.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.“

Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/28/2026 – 11:40

A 20-year-old New Jersey woman died in Florida while vacationing with friends and touring historic ruins, according to reports.Victoria Zardoya, 20, died after friends said she fell while visiting Fort Dade on Egmont Key, Florida on Friday.The remote island is located at the mouth of Tampa Bay and is only accessible by boat.Zardoya was a close friend of Milania Guidice, who is the daughter of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Guidice.CONCERTGOER DIES AFTER APPARENT FALL FROM UPPER LEVEL AT MADISON SQUARE GARDENThe Guidice family has been posting tributes and condolences on various social media platforms, E! News reported.A woman named Victoria Silberbusch, who said she was a friend of Zardoya, created a lengthy post on social media detailing her account of the alleged incident.FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON XSilberbusch said Zardoya fell from the ruins while the group of friends was on a boating tour of the island.SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWSShe described Zardoya’s injuries as “brutal” and maintains that “no one hesitated” to jump into action to render aid to the victim.FIREFIGHTERS, POLICE PULL YOUNG WOMAN FROM SEWAGE-FILLED RAVINE AFTER DAYS TRAPPED IN 104-DEGREE HEATLIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MOREAfter the group called 911 and sent flares from boats, paramedics reportedly responded by boat and a medical helicopter flew the victim to a nearby hospital.SEND US A TIPThe victim reportedly died of her injuries two days later.LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST”Victoria was never alone. From the moment she fell, every person there did everything within their power to help her,” Silberbusch said.FOSTER CHILD ALLEGEDLY DROWNED IN LAKE BY TWO TEENS ON LOCAL POLITICIAN’S PROPERTY: AUTHORITIESAccording to calls for service logs for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, it appears the agency responded to an incident on Egmont Key on Friday just before 5 p.m. and cleared out the event by 11:16 p.m. on the same day.GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAILFox News Digital has requested a copy of the incident report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.