What is taking place in the Strait of Hormuz right now is not simply a disruption to shipping, but a transformation of a natural chokepoint into a political weapon, and this is exactly what history shows always happens when a strategic passage falls under the control of a single power during a period of war. Iran has now effectively asserted control over the Strait, restricting access, threatening vessels, and even considering or reportedly imposing transit fees on tankers, with some reports indicating charges as high as $2 million per vessel for passage, which turns one of the most critical points…
Author: Staff Writer
Meetings look neutral on the calendar. Everyone’s calendar is stamped with the same blue 30-minute block. Everyone gets a seat at the table, and—supposedly—the same shot to contribute. But the moment you click “Join,” the pecking order kicks in. Meetings are where power is put on display, credit is scooped up, and the rules of who speaks and who doesn’t are enforced. If you want to understand how inequality festers inside an organization, start watching what happens in your meetings. At a time when women’s representation in the workplace has stagnated and their presence in senior leadership positions is slipping,…
The latest data confirms what we have been building toward for months, as mortgage demand has now dropped sharply with interest rates rising to their highest levels since October, with the Mortgage Bankers Association reporting that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.43% and total application activity fell 10.5% in a single week, including a 14.6% collapse in refinancing and a 5.4% decline in purchase applications, which reflects not just a slowdown but a clear contraction in housing demand. This is not happening in isolation because mortgage rates are tied directly to the 10-year Treasury, which has surged…
Before there was an iPod, an iPhone, an iPad, or an Apple Watch—before there was a Macintosh or Apple II or even an Apple-1—there were a couple of kids who came of age in Silicon Valley in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were brought together by a shared fascination with electronics. Supported by friends, family, and a burgeoning community of hobbyists, technologists, and entrepreneurs, just as the microprocessor was ushering in a new era, they channeled their strikingly different skills into joint projects. On April 1, 1976, along with Jobs’s former coworker Ronald Wayne,…
Seabed 2030 is a global initiative launched in 2017 by the Nippon Foundation and GEBCO, operating under the International Hydrographic Organization and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, with the stated goal of mapping the entire ocean floor by 2030 and compiling that data into a single global grid, drawing on governments, private industry, academic institutions, and international agencies to build what is effectively the most comprehensive database of the seabed ever attempted. I discussed how China is actively mapping the ocean floor for wartime data. The funding for Seabed 2030 comes from a handful of powerful institutions, governments, and globalist agencies.…
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Hurricane Center (NHC) is redesigning its most recognizable—some would say iconic—“cone” graphic for the 2026 hurricane season. Other product upgrades include improvements to Hawaii’s storm surge watches and warnings. “These improvements empower communities to prepare earlier and more effectively for dangerous hazards from tropical storms and hurricanes,” Michael Brennan, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, said in a statement. The updates come as climate change brings warmer global temperatures and rising sea levels, leading to more extreme weather events such as longer and more intense hurricane seasons, heat waves, storms, flooding, and even…
Late-night TV and Middle-earth just might be the crossover you didn’t know you needed. News of a new film that’s set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved world is plenty of cause to celebrate for Lord of the Rings fans, but the latest project comes with a wild twist. Stephen Colbert and LOTR trilogy director Peter Jackson just announced that The Late Show host will co-write the movie, titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, adapting Tolkien’s timeless tales of elves, hobbits, and difficult choices. Colbert, a self-proclaimed LOTR superfan, will jump headfirst into the project after wrapping up…
QUESTION: You were the first to say the US was going through Pakistan, and there was a 15-point plane. You also said no peace is possible. Iran just rejected Trump’s 15-point plan. You also commented that the markets were reflecting a protracted war. Do you see any hope whatsoever? PD ANSWER: Indeed, Iran said it rejected any US ceasefire proposal and maintained attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab states. They are in the driver’s seat, and they know it. Not just that they control the Strait of Hormuz, but aside from oil, 30% of the fertilizer goes through there, and…
“I’m only gonna be releasing music on LinkedIn from now on,” Grimes posted on X in February 2025. A year on, and true to her word, a profile for Claire Boucher (her real name) appeared on the networking platform this week. What’s unclear is if it’s actually the Canadian techno artist, who shares three children with Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and if she’ll actually be using it to release her music exclusively. In her profile, she lists her professions as CEO of the Los Angeles company Media Empire and an artist at Nazgul Recording LLC, the record publishing…
Bellwether trials are complicated but consequential. Pulled from a morass of claims, they’re designed to test how a jury responds to a broader legal theory. Often, they fall flat. Today in a California court, one did not. Kaley, a 20-year-old who alleged that social media harmed her childhood by addicting her and keeping her on platforms like Instagram for up to 16 hours a day, won $3 million in damages. A jury found Meta (the parent company of Instagram) and Alphabet (the parent company of Google and YouTube) liable, assigning 70% of the damages to Meta and 30% to Alphabet.…