Category: zerohedge

Authored by Kaif Shaikh via Interesting Engineering,

Intercepting a missile sounds straightforward. Launch another missile at it before it reaches its target. In reality, it is one of the most technically demanding challenges of defense.

Unlike offensive missiles, interceptor missiles must detect, track, calculate, and collide with a target that may be traveling several times the speed of sound, often within a matter of minutes. Some even destroy their targets without carrying an explosive warhead, relying instead on the sheer force of impact. Here’s how interceptor missiles work.

It Starts With Detection

An interceptor missile is only as effective as the network supporting it. Long before an interceptor launches, satellites equipped with infrared sensors detect the intense heat generated by a missile launch. Ground- and sea-based radars then begin tracking the missile’s trajectory, calculating where it is likely to travel and, more importantly, where it can be intercepted.

This information is continuously shared across a command-and-control network that decides whether an engagement is necessary, selects the most suitable interceptor, and determines the optimal launch time.

Predicting Where A Missile Will Be

One of the biggest misconceptions is that interceptor missiles simply “chase” incoming threats. Instead, fire-control computers predict the future position of the target based on its speed, altitude, direction, and expected flight path. The interceptor is launched toward that predicted intercept point rather than directly at the missile’s current location.

As both missiles continue moving, onboard guidance systems receive updated tracking data and constantly adjust the interceptor’s course until it reaches the target. The entire process, from detection to interception, may take only a few minutes for short-range ballistic missiles.

Three Opportunities To Intercept

Ballistic missiles travel through three distinct flight phases, each offering different interception opportunities. The boost phase begins immediately after launch while the rocket motors are still burning. During this stage, the missile is highly visible due to its intense infrared signature, but interception is extremely difficult because defensive systems must already be positioned near the launch site.

The midcourse phase is the longest portion of flight, when the warhead travels through space after booster separation. Systems such as the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense using SM-3 interceptors and the U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Defense are designed to engage threats during this stage.

Finally comes the terminal phase, when the warhead re-enters the atmosphere and descends toward its target. Systems such as THAAD and Patriot PAC-3 operate in this phase, providing the final opportunity to stop an incoming missile before impact.

Hit-To-Kill Versus Explosive Interception

Not every interceptor destroys its target in the same way. Many older interceptor missiles use blast-fragmentation warheads, detonating near the incoming missile and destroying it with high-speed metal fragments.

Modern systems increasingly rely on hit-to-kill technology. Rather than exploding nearby, these interceptors collide directly with the incoming missile at extremely high speed. The enormous kinetic energy generated by the impact is sufficient to destroy or disable the target without carrying a large explosive payload. Systems including THAAD, SM-3, and Patriot PAC-3 employ hit-to-kill interception for many ballistic missile defense missions.

Why Is Interception So Difficult?

Intercepting a missile is often compared to “hitting a bullet with another bullet,” but the reality is even more challenging. Incoming ballistic missiles can travel at several kilometers per second, leaving defenders with only a narrow engagement window. Modern missiles may also deploy decoys, maneuver during flight, or fly at lower altitudes to complicate tracking.

Weather, electronic warfare, radar coverage, and terrain can further reduce the time available to detect and engage a threat. For this reason, countries increasingly rely on layered missile defense, where multiple interceptor systems operate at different ranges and altitudes. If one layer fails, another still has an opportunity to intercept the incoming missile.

Examples Of Interceptor Missiles

Different interceptor missiles are optimized for different threats. The Patriot PAC-3 focuses on defending military bases and cities against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and aircraft during the terminal phase.

THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) intercepts short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles at much higher altitudes, including outside Earth’s atmosphere. The naval SM-3 interceptor protects ships and allied territories by engaging ballistic missiles during their midcourse phase, while SM-6 provides additional terminal defense against aircraft, cruise missiles, and some ballistic threats.

Other countries operate systems such as Israel’s Arrow-3, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome, each designed for different ranges and threat types.

The Future Of Missile Interception

As hypersonic glide vehicles and maneuverable ballistic missiles become more common, traditional interception methods are becoming increasingly challenging. Future systems are expected to combine more capable sensors, artificial intelligence-assisted tracking, and new interceptors, such as the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI), currently under development, to engage hypersonic threats before they begin their final descent.

While no missile defense system offers perfect protection, modern layered architectures have significantly improved the ability to detect, track, and intercept increasingly sophisticated threats. Success ultimately depends not on a single interceptor missile but on the seamless integration of satellites, radars, command networks, and multiple defensive layers that work together within seconds.

A remarkable collection of Revolutionary War artifacts that lay hidden beneath the Savannah River for nearly 240 years is now on public display in Georgia’s oldest city as the nation marks America’s 250th anniversary, according to Fox News.

The Savannah History Museum officially unveiled 19 cannons recovered from the river as part of its new Loyalists & Liberty: Savannah in the American Revolution exhibit. Historians say the discovery represents the largest cache of 18th-century artillery ever recovered from a single Revolutionary War naval event.

Fox News wrote that the cannons were discovered unexpectedly in 2021 after crews with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uncovered them while dredging the Savannah River to deepen the shipping channel for larger cargo vessels.

“When they were recovered, the cannons were heavily encrusted with oyster shells and marine growth after centuries underwater,” said Nora Fleming Lee, CEO of the Coastal Heritage Society. In addition to the artillery pieces, crews also found smaller artifacts, and several of the cannons still contained cannonballs and their original gunpowder charges.

Following their recovery, most of the cannons were transported to a preservation laboratory at Texas A&M University, where conservators spent several years removing salt from the iron through a specialized electrolysis process before stabilizing and protecting the metal for long-term display.

Seventeen of the cannons underwent full restoration, while two were intentionally left in their original condition so visitors can compare how they looked when first pulled from the river. All 19 are now permanently exhibited at the museum.

Researchers believe the weapons came from British ships that were deliberately scuttled in 1779 to create a blockade across the narrowest section of the Savannah River. The barrier was intended to prevent French naval forces from sailing upriver and helping American troops retake Savannah, which was then under British control.

The ships are believed to have been sunk only weeks before the Battle of Savannah, one of the deadliest engagements of the Revolutionary War, where more than 800 casualties were recorded in less than an hour. The battle took place on the same grounds where the Savannah History Museum stands today.

Museum officials say the exhibit goes beyond showcasing military artifacts. Through the stories of Indigenous people, enslaved and free Black residents, women, children and other overlooked figures, it explores Savannah’s role in the American Revolution from multiple perspectives, using the recovered cannons as a centerpiece to tell a broader and more inclusive story of the nation’s founding.

Authored by David DeMay via AmericanThinker.com,

Ask most Silicon Valley billionaires what they think about death, and you’ll get some version of a declaration of war. Peter Thiel has funded life-extension research for years and has spoken openly about wanting to “fight death.” Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and a growing circle of biotech-backed investors have likewise poured billions into companies pursuing not merely longer life, but the possibility of radically slowing or even ending human aging.

Elon Musk – the wealthiest of them all and arguably the most publicly concerned with humanity’s long-term survival – has consistently argued almost the opposite.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in conversation with Larry Fink, Musk remarked, “There is some benefit to death.”

He warned that dramatically extending human lifespans could lead to “an ossification of society,” leaving institutions increasingly rigid and ideas “stultifying” as the same generation remained in power indefinitely.

His reasoning is straightforward. Most people form their core worldview relatively early in adulthood and rarely change it fundamentally. If those individuals never leave positions of influence, society risks locking one generation’s assumptions permanently into its political, economic, and cultural institutions. In Musk’s view, mortality is not merely a biological limitation; it is one of the mechanisms by which civilizations renew themselves.

What makes his position especially interesting is that it is not rooted in scientific pessimism. During the same discussion, Musk suggested the opposite: Aging is probably a solvable scientific problem. He noted that virtually every tissue in the body appears to age in parallel.

“You’ve never seen someone with an old left arm and a young right arm,” he observed, arguing that such synchronized aging hints at a common biological mechanism. Once that mechanism is understood, he speculated, the solution may appear surprisingly obvious.

The tension is striking. Musk appears to believe that aging is likely to become an engineering problem with an engineering solution. Yet he has shown remarkably little interest in dedicating his own fortune to solving it. His hesitation is philosophical rather than technological: He questions whether dramatically extending individual lifespans would ultimately strengthen or weaken civilization.

That places him in sharp contrast with many of his peers. For much of Silicon Valley, mortality has become the next great engineering challenge—a problem to be solved through biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and unprecedented capital investment. Musk has instead argued that society should be at least as concerned with preserving its capacity for renewal as with extending individual lives.

A second priority reinforces that distinction. Rather than focusing primarily on longevity, Musk has repeatedly argued that declining birth rates pose the more immediate civilizational threat. A society may someday conquer aging entirely, he has suggested, yet still decline if it ceases to produce enough children to replace itself. Extending the lives of existing people cannot compensate indefinitely for a shrinking number of new ones.

Taken together, his views form a coherent hierarchy of priorities. Aging is real and probably solvable, but not necessarily the most urgent problem. Indefinite life extension carries the risk of social stagnation. Declining fertility, by contrast, threatens the long-term continuity of civilization itself.

Whether one agrees with that hierarchy is another question. What is difficult to ignore, however, is that Musk’s own life reflects the priorities he describes. While many technology leaders have invested extraordinary sums in extending the human lifespan, Musk has become the father of fourteen children and has consistently argued that building the next generation matters more than indefinitely prolonging the current one.

That does not prove his family is a deliberate philosophical statement, nor does it reveal his private motivations. But it does reveal a notable alignment between his public arguments and his personal choices. Rather than devoting his fortune primarily to extending his own life, he has devoted a remarkable part of it to creating the generation that will outlive him.

Silicon Valley’s prevailing instinct has been to treat mortality as an engineering problem: extend the individual life for as long as possible. Musk has consistently offered a different answer. He sees death as one of the mechanisms by which societies remain capable of renewal, while viewing falling birth rates as the more immediate threat to humanity’s future. Whether that philosophy ultimately proves correct remains to be seen. What is already clear is that his actions are unusually consistent with his words. In that sense, Musk’s answer to mortality is not another decade of life. It is another child.

At least 19 people died of suspected heat-related deaths in New Jersey over the 4th of July holiday weekend, after a nasty heat wave blanked parts of the central and eastern United States. 

In a statement to reporters, New Jersey Health Commissioner Dr. Raynard Washington said that people started dying as early as July 2, with most reported in the central and northern areas of the state – many of whom were found in homes without air conditioning. 

“A few were outside their residences, some on the street, and some even in parked cars,” Washington said, adding that most of the dead were elderly people and young adults. 

“It’s also important to note that these are just suspected and are being investigated. These numbers won’t be final until after medical examiners have had a chance to complete their investigations.”

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said at the press briefing that temperatures across the state reached 90 degrees to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on July 4, with the heat index nearing 110 degrees because of the humidity.

As the Epoch Times notes further, the governor described the hot weather as “the hottest stretch … in over 14 years.”

“The heat’s hitting all of us, not just seniors, not just those with underlying health conditions, people of all ages,” Sherrill said at a press briefing.

While the heat wave began to ease in New Jersey on July 5, hot and humid conditions were expected to persist. Sherrill said that showers and thunderstorms could occur through July 6.

The National Weather Service issued a warning on X about considerable flooding across portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast from July 5 through July 6.

“Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected to impact the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast today and Monday,” it stated. “Very high levels of atmospheric moisture will support heavy rainfall rates that could result in locally significant flash flooding.”

Central and northern New Jersey remain under a flood watch, as rainfall rates are expected to exceed 2 inches per hour in those areas, according to the governor.

“Some storms may bring heavy downpours, frequent lightning, and damaging wind gusts. Localized flooding is possible, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas,” Sherrill said in a post on X.

“Never drive through flooded roadways, and head indoors if you hear thunder. Stay informed, stay cool, and stay hydrated. Limit time outdoors during the hottest part of the day.“

Flash flood warnings and flood watches were in effect across New York on July 5. The state division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services warned that storms capable of producing torrential rain were moving into the Mid-Hudson region, which could trigger flash flooding in southeastern New York.

More than 95,000 households were left without power on July 5 because of the storms, primarily concentrated in the Mid-Hudson and Long Island regions, according to the division.

“Last night’s storms brought down trees and knocked out power across parts of the Hudson Valley and Long Island,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an update on X.

“We’re tracking an estimated 82,000 outages statewide and working with utility companies to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”

The weather service added in an overnight update that heat advisories were in force through to the evening of July 6 for parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Meanwhile, hot, dry, and windy conditions in the west has contributed to fire restrictions in states such as Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Authored by Jijo Malayil via Interesting Engineering,

Queue, a California-based robotics startup, has unveiled the world’s first fully autonomous robotic pharmacy, designed to automate prescription dispensing, verification, and delivery.

The platform accepts sealed wholesale medication bottles and produces filled, verified prescriptions with minimal human intervention.

Queue says the technology aims to reduce pharmacy operating costs, improve dispensing accuracy, and expand access to prescription services by enabling automated pharmacy operations closer to where patients need them.

The company also announced it has raised $12.6 million in funding to accelerate development and deployment of the system.

Automating Prescription Fulfillment

The system is designed to automate the entire prescription fulfillment process, from handling sealed wholesale medication bottles to producing filled and verified prescription vials with minimal human intervention.

Unlike conventional pharmacy automation, which typically assists individual tasks, Queue’s platform integrates dispensing, verification, and fulfillment into a single autonomous workflow. Medications enter the system in sealed manufacturer bottles, where robotics, computer vision, and automated handling mechanisms manage storage, counting, dispensing, and verification before generating patient-ready prescription containers.

The platform currently supports 250 of the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., covering a large share of routine prescriptions. Built with multiple automated safety and verification steps, the system is designed to reduce dispensing errors and maintain consistent prescription accuracy throughout the fulfillment process.

Addressing Workforce Shortages

Queue’s robotic pharmacy enters the market as the U.S. pharmacy sector faces mounting operational challenges. Industry reports have highlighted growing pharmacist workloads, staffing shortages, and declining numbers of pharmacy graduates entering the workforce. Pharmacy technician vacancy rates have also remained high, increasing operational pressure on existing staff while raising concerns about the potential for human error during prescription fulfillment.

At the same time, many pharmacies continue to face financial strain from declining reimbursement rates, making it increasingly difficult to sustain traditional operating models. Researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley, have found that nearly one-third of U.S. pharmacies have closed since 2010, contributing to the growth of pharmacy deserts where access to prescription services is limited.

Queue aims to address these structural challenges by replacing labor-intensive prescription fulfillment with autonomous robotic infrastructure. By automating the physical dispensing process while maintaining built-in verification protocols, the company seeks to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs, and expand access to pharmacy services in underserved communities.

Rather than serving only as a pharmacy automation tool, it positions the platform as a new infrastructure layer for prescription fulfillment, enabling healthcare providers to establish smaller, automated pharmacy operations in locations where conventional pharmacies may no longer be economically viable. The company believes this approach could help reshape prescription delivery while improving scalability, consistency, and accessibility across the U.S. healthcare system.

Authored by Jonathan Turley via jonathanturley.org,

Sen. Chris Murphy has finally found a constituency that truly gets him. Robots and automated systems around the country likely whirled and beeped with approval as he introduced the Senate version of the Living Wage for All Act. At a time when workers are being replaced at record numbers due to the cheaper labor of automated systems and AI programs, Murphy moved to price out millions of more workers by increasing their costs.

The bill would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $25 per hour – a 245 percent increase – over 12 years. The far-left senator is following the lead of states like California, where Democrats dramatically cut jobs through such wage increases.

Murphy went on NBC to insist that he is “not a democratic socialist” but then attacked capitalism:

“[T]he Democratic Party has been historically way too timid in taking on corporate power. I think we have to understand that people do not believe that this version of capitalism has worked. And frankly, it hasn’t worked. … This version of capitalism isn’t working. Now, I make the argument in the book that we should embrace, you know, what I call a common good capitalism.”

He then added:

“And by the way, we can afford it. It’s not like we can’t pay a $25 minimum wage; we just choose not to because we’ve become okay with dozens and dozens of people in this country making hundreds of billions of dollars.”

It is not clear who the “we” is. While securing a law degree, Murphy has never run a business and has spent his life as a politician, spending other people’s money.

I previously wrote about wage hikes and the predictable loss of jobs that followed.

Democratic politicians from New York to California are pushing for a $30 minimum hourly wage for workers. Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Democratic legislators in California herald their mandatory increases as providing a “living wage” for workers. In Los Angeles, a law requires hourly wages in the hotel and airport industries to rise by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.

There is no question that workers are struggling with the high cost of living in California. But blindly raising taxes and minimum wages will exacerbate these problems, not eliminate them.

A recent report by researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz found evidence of precisely what many economists had warned about in the state’s mandatory wage floors. Stephen Owen, an economics lecturer, explained that they found “a plethora of negative outcomes, such as higher menu prices for consumers, reductions in employee working hours, widespread elimination of overtime, and loss of benefits for employees.”

In other words, faced with mandated higher labor costs, businesses shrank their labor forces and raised their prices.

None of this is a surprise. Yet even amid such findings, Democrats are doubling down. They believe that because they claim to be the champions of the working class, it does not matter how many people they put out of work.

It is not just workers feeling the brunt of such economically ill-considered measures. In California, a two-person meal can run about $30 due to higher labor costs being passed on to consumers. It is only a matter of time before robots replace these workers.

What is ironic is that the Democrats are hitting the most vulnerable members of the labor force with these minimum wage increases. In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I discussed not only the economic changes unfolding due to AI and robotics but also the expected political miscalculations that are most likely to fuel job losses and wasteful spending. This is one of them.

As discussed in the book, certain industries are already likely to convert to automation due to increasing labor costs:

“For any wealth-maximizing, rational actor in the marketplace, the choice is obvious and inescapable. There is little reason for a restaurant to employ workers to make Happy Meals when they can be done by robotics without healthcare, wage issues, or scheduling conflicts. The very premise of McDonald’s is to produce the same meals in the exactly the same way from restaurant to restaurant. That is precisely what robotics do. They will make fries in exactly the same fashion over and over again without variation.”

Faced with this threat to the labor force, Murphy and others are moving to do the one thing to accelerate and expand the job losses by increasing the cost of human labor.

Ironically, giving the advantage to the robotic workforce could still work in favor of the growing socialist movement in the party. With more workers out of jobs, more will look to the government for support and a guaranteed income. That will further increase the role of the state. Of course, to expand what Zohran Mamdani called “the warmth of collectivism,” millions of human workers will have to be put out in the cold as an overpriced labor force. Citizens will then become what I have called a “kept population,” which could have a disastrous impact on the role of citizens in our unique Republic.

What is clear is that Murphy will prove to be the greatest friend a robot has ever had in Congress.

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

The super El Niño weather phenomenon this year will significantly boost India’s demand for coal-fired power generation over the next 12 months, as a generation gap could occur with higher temperatures, the Finland-based think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report on Monday.

The El Niño, the recurrent weather pattern driving global temperatures higher, would affect most energy systems globally, but none would be as affected as India’s, according to CREA.

The El Niño, typically associated with lower wind speeds and less rainfall, could reduce India’s power generation from wind and hydropower. This will open a gap in generation, CREA warns, adding that the gap will be mostly bridged by a surge in coal power generation.

“Combine the lost output from renewables and the increased demand for power, and India could face a generation gap of nearly 18 TWh,” CREA’s analysts said in the report.

“Super El Niño Could Trigger Major Coal Boom In India, which would release an estimated 17 million tonnes of CO2.”

India, the world’s second-biggest coal importer and user after China, continues to rely on coal despite a booming renewable energy sector. The Super El Niño could vindicate India’s approach not to give up on coal.

Overall, coal-fired power generation and capacity installations in India continue to rise, and coal remains a key pillar of India’s electricity mix, with about a 60% share of total power output.

Despite booming renewable capacity additions, India continues to rely on coal to meet most of its power demand as authorities also look to avoid blackouts in cases of severe heat waves.

Coal will still be a key part of India’s power system for the next two decades, Rajnath Ram, adviser for energy at the government policy think tank, NITI Aayog, said at the end of last year.

“We cannot be subjective about coal. The question is how sustainably we can use it,” the official noted.

Authored by Daniel Lacalle,

Japan’s yen crisis exposes the long‑running failure of the Keynesian strategy that has dominated the country’s economic policy: chronic deficits, exploding public debt, and engineered inflation are now eroding Japan’s purchasing power, competitiveness, and monetary stability.

For decades, many mainstream analysts pointed to Japan as proof that a rich, “monetarily sovereign” country could keep an extremely high public debt without relevant consequences. The argument was simple: as long as the state can issue its currency, it can always print whatever is needed to cover deficits, refinance debt, and support public spending.

In reality, that has meant public debt soaring to around 250% of GDP, one of the highest levels in the developed world, while repeatedly increasing government expenditure and leaving large, persistent deficits. Even the IMF notes that, even after several years of moderate growth, prudence is “key to keep debt‑to‑GDP on a firmly downward path,” admitting that the current level is a structural vulnerability.

Japan’s apparent stability depended on a crucial external factor, the country’s enormous exporting capacity.

As a leading exporter of cars, technology, and capital goods, the country attracted a continuous inflow of US dollars and foreign capital that supported a stable currency and kept inflation low, despite fiscal excess. That protective layer is eroding fast. Headline inflation has edged up from 1.4% in April 2026 to 1.5% in May, while core inflation has held at 1.4%, still below the Bank of Japan’s 2% target but clearly positive after three decades of near‑zero price growth.

A key factor of the Japanese model was its export engine and the “golden goose” of capital inflows.

These two factors allowed the country to live with large debt and deficits without immediately triggering high inflation. However, that mirage is vanishing as external performance falters and inflation, though moderate, bites into real incomes.

Keynesianism did not spur growth or improve Japanese citizens’ lives. It just bloated an unsustainable government machine.

Recent data show that price increases are now broad‑based, not confined to a few categories. In May 2026, overall CPI inflation was 1.5% year-on-year. However, food prices rose 3.5% year-on-year, which is a heavy burden for households. Goods inflation stood at 2.0%, while services inflation was around 1.0%.

Underlying inflationary pressures, particularly in services and wage‑sensitive sectors, are now embedded in the system rather than an isolated energy shock. Meanwhile, real net wages are stagnant or declining. Japanese citizens face an affordability crisis.

The authorities, obsessed for years with the ludicrous “risk of deflation,” consciously tried to push inflation above zero, aiming to erode the real value of the public‑debt stock. They have achieved modest inflation, but at the cost of real wage erosion. Despite headline gains in nominal pay, inflation‑adjusted wages have fallen for four consecutive fiscal years, with a 0.5% decline in real wages in fiscal 2025 alone. Citizens are poorer, while the government is bigger, even as headline macro indicators show stability.

The most visible symptom of this model’s exhaustion is the yen. Despite repeated interventions by the Bank of Japan and a shift towards higher policy rates—the BOJ’s benchmark is now at its highest point since the mid‑1990s—the currency has slid to levels not seen in almost forty years. Each attempt to defend the yen produces a brief rebound, but the broader trend reflects markets’ concern about Japan’s long‑term fiscal and monetary sustainability.

Japan is not going bankrupt in strict terms; it is demolishing its currency, which is equivalent to an implicit default.

No one wants Japan to fail, but the model has delivered nothing in the past decade. The IMF talks about solid output growth, robust domestic demand, and low unemployment. However, domestic demand and GDP are disguised by constantly rising government spending, while low unemployment is a consequence of challenging demographic conditions. Japan’s population is aging and shrinking, and Keynesianism has made it harder for families to grow and have children.

If GDP and domestic demand were really strong, the country would have a strong currency. Instead, the yen weakness reveals investors’ skepticism regarding a model that combines very high debt, structurally positive inflation, and decades of real wage stagnation.

Japan has avoided a formal sovereign default and sudden stop in financing not because the Keynesian model is sound, but because the country still attracts a “gigantic” inflow of foreign capital and investment. Those inflows supply dollars, support asset prices, and help keep the system running despite its internal contradictions. A Bank Of Japan obsessed with raising asset prices by increasing ownership of ETFs shows it is more interested in headline figures than citizens’ cost of living.

On the surface, the wage picture in early 2026 looks encouraging. Average cash earnings grew 3.5% year‑on‑year in April 2026, marking the 52nd consecutive month of nominal wage gains and the fastest pace since late 2024. Base pay was up 3.4%, and nominal wages rose across sectors—from manufacturing and construction to information and communications and finance. Government data show that in March, nominal wages increased about 2.7%, while the consumer inflation rate used to calculate real wages stood at 1.6%, allowing real wages to rise roughly 1% in that month. However, these monthly improvements sit atop a longer‑term pattern where inflation has outpaced wage growth. Over fiscal 2025, real wages fell 0.5% and the small bounce may be short-lived as estimates show another negative real wage year for 2026. Japan’s real wages have stagnated for nearly 30 years since peaking in 1997. The inflation that policymakers wanted to generate is ultimately eroding the living standards of the citizens whose demand is supposed to sustain growth.

Against this backdrop, calls to raise taxes further to stabilize the public accounts risk pushing the system into another vicious circle. Higher taxation would likely weaken investment and capital inflows, undermine competitiveness, and intensify pressure on households. Immigration, often proposed as a demographic fix, may raise aggregate GDP but also increase fiscal strain when public finances are already deeply imbalanced, as seen in other advanced economies.

Japan’s situation is not a sudden accident; it is the culmination of policies that have been failing for decades. The country’s wealth, export capacity, and capital inflows allowed it to live with large imbalances for a long time. The difference today is that the traditional strengths have weakened, and the latest data make the structural problems clearer.

Japan shows the structural failure of a policy approach that “always seeks to expand public imbalances at the expense of citizens.” The Keynesian experiment in Japan aimed to prove that government is a key engine of growth but instead produced long‑term stagnation, high debt, and an erosion of real incomes. The yen’s weakness is simply the symptom of a larger disease: statism. And some want to repeat it in your country.

In another sign of war fatigue in the West, and perhaps amid greater realization that ‘punishing’ the Russian people is having no real effect on the course of the Ukraine war, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has finally eased restrictions on Russian athletes ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) that had been in effect since 12 October 2023,” the Olympic body stated Tuesday.

“The decision was taken following a thorough analysis by the IOC’s Legal Affairs Commission, considering that the ROC no longer includes as its members any regional sports organizations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine,” it continued.

Still, it sought to assure ‘solidarity’ with Ukraine, stating additionally: “The IOC stands in solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine, which the Olympic movement has supported since the beginning of the war, and will continue to do so.”

The past several yeas has seen Russian and Belarusian athletes compete only under ‘neutral’ status. The new policy change has yet to indicate whether Russia will be able to display its flag or colors, or play its anthem – but presumably so.

Russian athletes can now compete as long as they “meet relevant anti-doping requirements,” the IOC made clear in announcing the status change.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry has started speaking some sense:

“We don’t want to hold athletes accountable for the actions of their government.”

“We made it clear that all athletes had the possibility to compete at the Olympic Games. This is what this decision speaks to. It allows Russian athletes to take part in sports competitions. We thought it was really important for athletes to have that possibility,” Coventry said.

Some pundits have for years been pointing out a glaring double standard: Israel’s invasion of Gaza has by any estimate resulted in far more civilian deaths than the Ukraine war, yet the IOC has not considered banning Israeli athletes.

George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq resulted in – according to various estimates – between 500,000 and one million Iraqi civilian deaths. What’s more is that it was only within years later the entire case the Neocons made for the invasion was proven an absolute fraudulent lie. Where were the IOC punitive actions against American athletes? It wasn’t even a thought.

The IOC has lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee ahead of 2028 Olympic qualification events

Also, “The IOC will take a decision in relation to the display of the Russian flag, anthem, colours or any identifications [for the Olympics] at the appropriate time.” pic.twitter.com/oQWS2AdInB

— Jackie Wong (@rockerskating) July 7, 2026

Similarly, Washington’s bombing and invasion of Afghanistan turned into a more than two-decade long quagmire full of civilian death and destruction for entire towns and villages. And not a peep from the IOC or any Olympic officials.

The clear pattern has been that only those enemies and rivals of the Western allies get banned from the games. 

Via The Cradle

The Chinese navy on Monday test-launched a strategic missile from a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean in the framework of its annual military exercises.

“At 12.01pm on July 6, a strategic nuclear submarine of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a… strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead into the relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean,” spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement posted on WeChat.

“This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of China’s annual military training, and relevant countries were informed in advance,” Wang stated, adding that the missile “accurately” landed in the designated area.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said that the test was a “routine arrangement” within the framework of China’s annual military exercises.

Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister and a New Zealand government source told AFP that China was preparing to test-fire a nuclear-capable ballistic missile.

“Yes, China has briefed me. I was personally called by the Chinese ambassador,” Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko stated.

After Japan was notified, it strongly urged China to reconsider moving ahead with the test launch.

“We strongly requested a reconsideration of this test launch of the ballistic missile to ensure that it does not pose a threat to Japan’s security, particularly by passing through its airspace,” according to a joint statement issued before the launch by Japan’s ministries of defense and foreign affairs.

The test launch came as China and Russia officially began their annual “Joint Sea-2026” naval exercises on Monday. The exercises are scheduled from 6 to 13 July and are taking place in the waters and airspace off the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (#PLA) Navy’s test launch of a strategic missile by a submarine was a routine military training exercise. It was not targeted at any specific country or target. China notified relevant countries in advance, which is in line with international… pic.twitter.com/Jo7u9ti5P5

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) July 6, 2026

The bilateral maneuvers aim to address regional security challenges and elevate military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.

Russian state media reported that a cruiser, a corvette, a diesel-electric submarine, and a rescue vessel from Russia’s Pacific Fleet will participate in the drills. China’s Northern Theater Command said that two destroyers, a frigate, a submarine, a supply ship, and a rescue vessel will participate.

During a visit to Beijing in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Chinese and Russian military and economic cooperation “demonstrate strong momentum.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the strong relationship between Beijing and Moscow.

China and Russia on Monday launched the “Joint Sea-2026” exercise at a military port in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong Province. #XinhuaNews pic.twitter.com/l6t3PNk3iD

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) July 6, 2026

“We have been able to continuously deepen our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding despite trials and tribulations,” Xi said.

Both leaders warned against a global return to the “law of the jungle,” referring to the unprovoked US-Israeli war on Iran.