Tuesday, July 7, 2026
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Both Toyota and Honda had previously warned the Canadian government that without the USMCA they would shift production from Canada to the U.S. to avoid tariffs and secure long-term manufacturing stability. We presume a similar message was conveyed to MexicoEarlier today Toyota announced they were moving half of their Tacoma Truck production from Mexico to an expanded facility in Texas that will now encompass 5 million square feet in San Antonio.
(Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp. is moving production of its popular Tacoma midsize truck from a plant in Mexico to San Antonio as part of a $3.6 billion investment in the Texas facility.
BANGOR, Maine — Maine author Stephen King appears to be standing behind Graham Platner, even as the Senate candidate faces allegations of sexual assault and growing calls to end his campaign. Posting on 'X' shortly after POLITICO published testimony from a Maine woman who accused Platner of assaulting her in 2021, the prolific horror writer wrote "Graham Platner may drop out. I hope he doesn't, but." King then went on to reference President Donald Trump, and the numerous sexual misconduct allegations he has faced over the years, calling him the "Abuser in Chief." President Trump has consistently denied several public allegations
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired at least two missiles at commercial ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, Axios reported, citing two US officials.
Two commercial ships suffered significant damage but had no casualties, the report said, citing a US official.
Separately, Britain’s maritime security agency said a tanker caught fire after being hit by an unknown projectile east of Oman’s Limah early on Tuesday.
Strange Planet
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Last night TCM played the dystopian thriller Soylent Green (1973), starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. It was Robinson’s last film. He was dying of cancer during the filming and Heston credited him with the success of the film. Robinson played his character’s death scene in the face of his own “true and imminent death,” as Heston subsequently wrote.
Rereading Gulliver’s Travels, I’ve been thinking about Heston’s role as surviving astronaut George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968). As Taylor crash lands on a strange planet, the film performs a variation on Part IV of Gulliver’s Travels. In Part IV Gulliver visits the land of the Houyhnhnms.
An Inspector General audit of the Minority Business Development Agency’s flagship program found that 96 percent of the reviewed transactions should not have been approved, revealing a stunning lack of oversight at the now-defunct agency and raising questions about what will happen if Democrats revive the program.
The November 2025 audit, which has not been previously reported, reviewed $16 billion in transactions approved by the MBDA business center program, a network of federally funded consultancies, public and private, aimed at supporting minority-owned businesses, which had to be at least 51 percent minority-owned to qualify for services. The audit found that $15.4 billion of the $16 billion in transactions reviewed
The pastor of a prominent Chinese underground church has arrived in the United States less than two months after President Donald Trump pressed his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for his release following pressure from lawmakers and rights groups.
"Ezra" Jin Mingri, 56, founder of Zion Church—one of China's many so-called "house churches" that operate outside government control—was arrested in October along with 17 other church leaders in coordinated overnight raids across the country, in one of the Chinese Communist Party's largest crackdowns on a single church in decades.
President Donald Trump posted a photo of a $100 bill bearing his signature on Truth Social on July 3, presenting the first paper currency to be signed by a living president.
Trump didn’t add a comment to the post, but the Treasury Department chimed in.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are on a path toward unprecedented economic growth, lasting dollar dominance, and fiscal strength and stability,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on X on July 4.
“There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S dollar bills bearing his signature, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency
Nobody is going to argue that Ilhan Omar is a great thinker or speaker. She’s not. And we get it, she’s from another country, and English is her second language, but that’s not an excuse for a sitting member of Congress to sound like an ignorant dolt, especially when she has a taxpayer-funded staff that’s supposed to be helping her.
Ilhan’s latest mishap came on Independence Day, when she not once, but twice, was unable to properly pronounce the word patriotism. She says it, “paytreeism.” You might think we’re being petty and nitpicking her accent. But it goes way beyond that. This is part of a pattern with this woman
Khamenei Mourners Hold Hit List Signs
Targeting Trump, Americans as Warren Staffer
Attends Funeral replies
Targeting Trump, Americans as Warren Staffer
Attends Funeral replies
Since the Iranian regime has a massive price on Donald Trump's head, regime supporters attending Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral held hit list signs targeting Trump and other Americans. And yet a former campaign staffer for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) attended the funeral for the mass-murdering terrorist dictator.
The funeral of eliminated Iranian mass murderer, terrorist, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gathered the most despicable dictators, jihadis, and dirtbags from across the Middle East and around the world. It also brought out the Iranian regime’s supporters in Tehran who, like Khamenei, want “death to America and Israel.”
The Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) began production, quoting, and trading operations on Monday, kicking off a phased rollout as a new national securities exchange based in Dallas.
The launch marks a significant milestone for the Dallas-headquartered startup, which aims to challenge the longstanding dominance of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. TXSE started with limited test symbols for approved members, with broader symbol availability planned throughout July.
The exchange will operate under the market center identifier “F.”
Trading hours include a pre-market session from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., regular market hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and a post-market session from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
President Trump rang the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq in the Oval Office on Monday to mark the launch of his administration’s tax-advantaged accounts for kids, with the commander in chief vowing “to make young children, born with no money in many cases, rich.”
Trump was joined in the Oval Office by corporate executives who have contributed to the funds, as well as a group of nine children who jumped up and cheered as the president pulled on a rope to signal the start of Wall Street’s trading day.
Monday marked the second time a sitting president has
Walmart, Sam's Club slash prices on thousands
of products as Trump says move came at
his request replies
of products as Trump says move came at
his request replies
Retail giants Walmart and Sam's Club on Monday announced sweeping summer discounts on thousands of everyday essentials and seasonal items, a move that quickly drew political attention after President Donald Trump said the retailer acted at his administration's request. In a news release Monday, Walmart and Sam's Club said they are introducing nationwide price cuts to help families stretch their dollars during backyard barbecues, vacations and weekly grocery trips.
The savings span several categories, including groceries, household essentials, outdoor living, toys and apparel.
Senator Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for three weeks. His wife, Elaine Chao, appeared in China just days after his hospitalization to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials. The trip was planned before Mitch’s hospitalization. Desiree Townsend, an independent journalist who works on Capitol Hill, expressed concerns about national security. “If Senator McConnell has been unable to independently perform his duties, what safeguards exist to ensure classified intelligence briefings, defense appropriations information, or other sensitive congressional matters could not be accessed, discussed, or shared by individuals operating behind the scenes? And given the timing of Chao’s meeting with China’s vice president, what exactly was discussed?"
Another front in the language war that Muslims are fighting everywhere can be found here: a Muslim police officer is now enraged that the terms “Islamist” and “jihadist” are being used to label terrorists. “U.K. Muslim Police Association Urged End to ‘Islamist’ and ‘Jihadist’ Labels,” by Jules Gomes, Middle East Forum, June 25, 2026:
Britain’s official representative body for Muslim police officers has sparked outrage after a policy paper published on its website proposed scrapping terms like “Islamist” and “jihadist” to label “terrorists with Islamic affiliations.”
The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) has deleted the 39-page paper titled “From Past Prejudices to Present Policies: Confronting anti-Muslim hatred and Promoting Human Rights,”
Solar-powered black boxes have been installed in communities across the U.S. under the guise of “public safety.” Yet, in true American fashion, resistance is rising against what can only be described as the arrival of a full-fledged surveillance state.
Flock Safety cameras, the most prominent brand in this AI surveillance space, are automated license plate readers (ALPRs) that capture high-resolution images of every passing vehicle. Flock and similar systems now operate in thousands of communities, with over 110,000 cameras mapped nationwide, according to DeFlock, an open-source project mapping license plate readers. Thanks to recent tech upgrades like Leonardo’s SignalTrace, these cameras do more than just read license plates and record your
Students will no longer be able to take out federal loans to pay for degree programs that fail to provide them a return on investment, thanks to a new federal policy that went into effect on July 1.
And it’s about time.
It’s a response to a shocking fact: Graduates of more than 800 college programs across the country — including at institutions like the University of South California and New York City’s New School — make less than the average high-school grad four years after getting a degree, despite all that time, effort and tuition money.
Now the American government will have no part in propping up degree programs
Conservative activist Laura Loomer and journalist Desiree Townsend both claimed Monday that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been declared “brain dead,” citing unnamed sources.
Loomer wrote on X that, according to a senior source she said was close to the White House, McConnell had been declared brain dead and was not expected to recover.
“High level source close to the White House tells me Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He’s not coming back,” Loomer posted. [Tweet]
Townsend later reposted Loomer’s post, saying she had heard the same information from her own sources. She also claimed McConnell’s Capitol Police detail was still at the hospital.
A woman who dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.
The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident to POLITICO in three interviews over the past two weeks. POLITICO also spoke with a man Racicot dated and confided in the years after the alleged incident, and reviewed documents, including emails between Racicot and her therapist and messages between Racicot and an acquaintance whom she warned against getting involved with Platner years before he ran for office.
In yet another desperate power grab, radical Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom is warning that anyone who dares help President Trump protect election integrity in California will be prosecuted.
He’s now moving forward with legislation to make it a FELONY to seize ballots before they’ve been certified by his hand-picked state and county officials.
This is the same Gavin Newsom who has spent years resisting basic election security while California’s system remains wide open to abuse.
In a video statement posted on social media, Newsom warned that anyone who assists President Donald Trump in what he described as interference with California’s elections would face prosecution under state law.
The View co-host Sunny Hostin has complained that seeing American flags in her community makes her feel “unsafe.”
During Monday’s episode of the flagship ABC political talk show, Hostin weighed in on the July 4th march by the white nationalist group Patriot Front.
Hostin ranted:
You know, I think unfortunately in this country, people have different lived experiences. So while some may have a lived experience like this, it is the best country in the world. (Snip) When I walk into a community and I see American flags all over the community and I suddenly feel unsafe
James Gunn was supposed to revamp and revitalize DC Studios at Warner Bros. (snip) Friday grosses dropped an astonishing 80.4% from opening day on June 26 to just $3.6 million. Saturday estimates are for just $2.6 million, another 77% drop, despite the Independence Day holiday. (snip) Lazy, uninteresting stories made by people who obviously despise their audiences is a recipe for disaster. That's exactly what "Supergirl" is, a disaster.
President Donald Trump has inadvertently turned some Americans on the left into fans of Belgium’s soccer team.
In fact, after Trump intervened to overturn a suspension for a United States men’s soccer player, folks on the left have expressed hope that Belgium will defeat America during the World Cup.
It started when striker Folarin Balogun received a red card after he stepped on an opponent’s ankle during the U.S./Belgium soccer match. After reviewing the tape, referees decided it was an example of serious foul play and issued a one-match suspension, meaning Balogun would not be allowed to play in the next match against Belgium.
The decision elicited an outcry from fans
Full disclosure: I have very little knowledge of the game of soccer, and only a mild jingoistic interest in it when Team USA wins in its international competitions. Until the past week, I couldn't tell a red card from a red wedding, except that the howls of fury for the former easily exceeded those of the latter. My biggest takeaway from futbol is that LeBron James learned his ref-manipulating flops from the best in the business.
With all of that said, however, even I have caught a mild case of World Cup fever, as the American men's team has delivered a surprisingly dominant performance – so far.
Is Platner Out?
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Amid rumors of yet another social media scandal set to drop, Neo-Nazi Demi-Commie Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner is reportedly preparing to exit the race against Republican incumbent Susan Collins.
Bangor Daily News' Benjamin Kail reported Monday on rumors circulating "among Maine Democrats and over social media" about yet another scandalous tale "to come about the oyster farmer’s past."
Well, for starters, he wasn't much of an oyster farmer, aside from some manufactured backstory to distract from little things like his nearly two-decade-old Nazi death head tattoo. But that's yesterday's news — let's get back to today's.
According to that Bangor Daily report, Platner canceled several events Sunday and Monday,