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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday morning, emphasizing the Trump administration’s urgent push to modernize the nation’s outdated airspace communications infrastructure.

Secretary Duffy cited recent outages at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). He described the situation as deeply concerning and stressed the need to replace the legacy system, which still relies on copper wiring, not fiber optics. 

“We’re having these glitches in the system,” he said, adding, “So we slow it down and keep people safe. That’s what we do.” 

Secretary Duffy said air traffic is being deliberately slowed and may last for “several weeks” at EWR following a series of radar outages, including the latest incident on Sunday morning. A separate outage on Friday had already prompted a temporary ground stop at the airport.

Bloomberg adds more color about today’s ground stop at EWR:

On Sunday, an FAA equipment failure prompted a temporary ground stop at Newark. Controllers briefly slowed arriving and departing flights due to a “telecommunications issue” at a Philadelphia air traffic control center that was implicated in last week’s 90-second outage, according to the FAA’s website.

“I’m concerned about the whole airspace,” Secretary Duffy said, pointing out much of the “equipment that we use, much of it we can’t buy parts for new. We have to go on eBay and buy parts if one part goes down. You’re dealing with really old equipment.”

The FAA’s outdated and deteriorating infrastructure was well known during the Biden-Harris regime, yet little was done to address the looming crisis. Instead, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg prioritized woke initiatives—such as addressing so-called ‘racist’ infrastructure—over urgently needed modernization efforts of the nation’s air traffic systems. 

Whether this reflects mismanagement or intentional negligence remains up for debate—but after four years of woke warriors in the White House, the consequences are undeniable: the entire airspace network is in crisis.

An urgent fix is needed, and that’s precisely what Secretary Duffy and his team are now racing to deliver.

Duffy on the air traffic control system: “The lights are blinking, the sirens are turning … what you see in Newark is gonna happen in other places across the country.”

Good luck, air travelers! pic.twitter.com/8woxmSYzvo

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2025

Nationwide Problem

Twice in two weeks, air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport lost all communication with aircraft – brief breakdowns that halted flights, triggered mass delays, and revived deep-seated concerns about the frailty of America’s air navigation infrastructure.

No lives were lost, but for 90 seconds on April 28 – and again during a radar outage Friday – controllers at one of the nation’s busiest airports were effectively flying blind. The incidents rattled controllers, pushed already strained staffing to a breaking point, and highlighted what aviation leaders call a system overdue for a fundamental overhaul.

“There is a shortage of controllers nationwide, but not to the degree it’s occurring at Newark,” said Jeff Guzzetti, a former FAA and NTSB investigator. “Newark has always been the worst in terms of air traffic staffing and modernizing its equipment.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy cited “decades of underinvestment,” and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the FAA “really a mess.” The Transportation Department’s inspector general reported that 20 of the 26 most critical U.S. airports fall below the minimum staffing threshold for controllers, The Guardian reports. At Newark, some controllers who say they’re traumatized by the latest breakdown, have taken leave—exacerbating already severe shortages.

The Trump administration responded Thursday with a sweeping modernization proposal. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy unveiled a plan to replace “antiquated telecommunications” with fiber, wireless, and satellite systems at more than 4,600 sites nationwide. “We are blessed to have a president who actually loves to build and knows how to build,” Duffy said.

The plan was met with cautious optimism. Airlines and the air traffic controllers’ union endorsed the initiative, while the Modern Skies Coalition, a group of industry stakeholders, said it was encouraged by the department’s prioritization of safety. Yet some aviation experts questioned whether this plan will succeed where previous efforts have failed.

Robert W Mann Jr, an aviation industry analyst, said that for 40 years there have been FAA reauthorizations approved by Congress, but they haven’t fixed the problems. “Unless you do it right, it doesn’t make a difference what you spend,” he said. “You won’t have solved the root causes.”

Nonetheless, Mann said he remained confident about airline safety. He said: “There’s a primacy in this business. Whether you’re working at airlines or the FAA, safety is the first thing.”

Mann said that days when an airport faces severe understaffing of air traffic controllers or a crush of airplanes eager to take off as bad weather lifts, there will often be delays to ensure safety. “I’m not worried about safety,” Mann said, “but I might be worried that my flight will be four hours’ late.” -Guardian

Thursday’s announcement did not include a price tag, though the House Transportation Committee estimates a full system overhaul would cost at least $12.5 billion. Duffy acknowledged it could run higher.

Beyond the hardware, the human element is equally strained. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says the U.S. needs more than 14,300 fully certified controllers. Today, the system has fewer than 10,800, with over 2,000 trainees still working toward full certification – a process that can take up to three years at high-volume airports like JFK and Newark.

Aging Infrastructure

The system’s shortfall dates back more than four decades. “The natural rhythm of the system broke down and we never fully recovered,” said Georgetown labor historian Joseph McCartin, referencing President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 mass firing of striking controllers. “We’ve improved over time, but the FAA still has grave difficulty staffing facilities.”

Guzzetti noted that the FAA still uses outdated software and facilities reliant on copper wire and even floppy disks. “It’s all coming to a head now,” he said. A 2023 Government Accountability Office report warned that 51 of the FAA’s 138 ATC systems are unsustainable.

Meanwhile, a tragic January crash involving a commercial jet and army helicopter near Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people, remains under investigation. President Trump drew sharp criticism for blaming the accident on DEI policies before findings were released. On May 1, another army helicopter forced two commercial jets to abort landings at Reagan.

Despite this troubling backdrop, Mann expressed confidence in the industry’s safety culture. “I’m not worried about safety,” he said, “but I might be worried that my flight will be four hours’ late.”

Flight attendants’ union president Sara Nelson praised the dedication of frontline workers. “They should be commended for working in a system that’s crumbling,” she said. “They’re like the nurses during Covid.”

Duffy’s plan also includes incentives aimed at alleviating workforce shortages, including $5,000 bonuses for recruits who complete initial training. But industry officials stress that appropriations from Congress will be key.

“I hate to say we’re a canary in the coalmine,” said Nelson, “but what happened in Newark is a sign of what will come in other airports if we don’t get the budget we need.”

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told a lawyers’ conference that amid escalating criticism in the nation of some federal judges, lawyers need to “stand up” and “fight this fight.”

Sotomayor made the comments during an on-stage conversation on May 8 at an American Bar Association conference at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

The remarks by Sotomayor came after President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly criticized court rulings in recent months that have blocked or delayed the president’s agenda. Trump and some lawmakers have accused some judges of overstepping their authority through such rulings and called for them to be impeached.

Several federal judges have said the Trump administration has not complied with various court orders on immigration enforcement, federal spending, the firing of government employees, and foreign aid. The administration denies that it disobeyed the orders.

Sotomayor did not identify Trump or other officeholders who have criticized judges’ rulings by name.

“Our job is to stand up for people who can’t do it themselves. And our job is to be the champion of lost causes,” said the associate justice who joined the Supreme Court in 2009 after being nominated by President Barack Obama.

“But right now, we can’t lose the battles we are facing. And we need trained and passionate and committed lawyers to fight this fight.”

“With all the uncertainty that exists at this moment, this is our time to stand up and be heard. For me, being here with you is an act of solidarity,” Sotomayor added.

Sotomayor also praised “diversity,” which she said “is important for its own sake because it inspires everyone to believe that it’s possible for them to be in a position to help others.”

“I am more grateful that in my role as a public servant, I can continue to serve all communities and represent America as the very best version of itself,” she said.

Sotomayor’s comments came after two of her colleagues on the high court had also recently made public statements directed at the criticism of judges.

On May 7, Chief Justice John Roberts said an independent judiciary was needed to check the power of the president and Congress.

Roberts did not mention Trump or other officeholders by name during his comments that came during a visit to his birthplace of Buffalo, New York.

Judicial independence is “the only real political-science innovation in our Constitution,” said Roberts, who became chief justice in 2005 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.

In the Constitution, “the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down … acts of Congress or acts of the president,” he said.

“And that innovation doesn’t work if … the judiciary is not independent. Its job is to … check the excesses of Congress or of the executive, and that does require a degree of independence.”

Roberts also said, “impeachment is not how you register disagreement with [judicial] decisions.”

“That’s what we’re there for,” he said, in reference to the appeals process.

On May 1, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that recent criticisms of judges are “attacks on our democracy.”

Jackson was apparently commenting on Trump’s rhetorical barrages against some judges, although she did not specifically mention the president during her speech and instead spoke about “the elephant in the room.”

“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” Jackson said at a judicial conference in Puerto Rico.

“The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”

Jackson took her seat on the high court in June 2022 after being nominated by President Joe Biden.

Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,

The battle between the Trump administration and the federal courts on the topic of deportation is intensifying.

The outlines are clear. Biden and his corrupt cronies left the U.S. southern border wide open for four years. Estimates vary but it’s likely 8 million illegal aliens crossed the border. But the actual number could be 10 million or higher. Of course, some just came for a better opportunity, but many were murderers, terrorists, rapists, sex traffickers, Chinese spies and every sort of violent low life you can imagine.

It’s nearly impossible to find and deport 8 million people. Biden made sure of that by ignoring the procedures for tracking and documenting the alien invasion. Trump’s policy of “remain in Mexico” while immigration cases were pending was abandoned by Biden. Many of the illegals got court dates, but those were scheduled years in advance. The expectation was that the court notices would be thrown in the trash, the illegals would not show up in court, and no enforcement action would be conducted.

Trump has launched a major deportation effort despite these handicaps. In any situation where you can accomplish part of the task but not all, the first move is to prioritize elements so you can devote resources to the best effect. Trump has done that also. He has prioritized the worst of the worst – criminals and terrorists – for early deportation. That reduces crime and violence in the U.S. and gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a chance to hone their techniques for the larger task ahead.

The New Obstacle – The Courts

Now, Trump has encountered a new obstacle. It’s not the illegals, the Democrats or the media. It’s the federal court system, especially rogue district court judges appointed by Biden and Obama. To be clear, the rogue judges don’t work in a vacuum. The plaintiffs are hand selected to create sympathy in the media (although there’s little sympathetic about a rapist) and are represented in court by lawyers backed by well-funded NGOs and activist organizations.

It’s not as if the illegals have the resources to appeal cases to the Supreme Court on their own. They don’t need them. From Soros on down, the fight against deportation is well-funded and skillfully lawyered. The lawyers present everything the judges need to tear down Trump’s agenda.

There are hundreds of cases involving thousands and potentially millions of illegal aliens now pending in the courts. Trump has been losing most of these cases at the district court level, but it’s reasonable to expect some success at the circuit court and Supreme Court levels. But that takes time.

Rather than review the docket case-by-case and issue-by-issue, it may be useful to step back and look at the forest instead of the individual trees. The radical neo-Marxist lawyers don’t care about the individual defendants. They don’t care about blocking individual deportations. They don’t even care about the law. What’s going on is far more pernicious and damaging to Trump and the country.

There’s a lot of talk about the Constitution, but a pure illegal does not have full constitutional rights. The courts have afforded them some limited rights such as freedom from torture and freedom of religion. The difficulty with the pending Trump deportation cases is that radical lawyers are concocting status arguments that allow the illegals to upgrade their status.

The Goal Is Not Justice – It’s Delay

This legal upgrade can be based on asylum claims, pending immigration court dates, and some blanket grants for temporary residence. Some illegals are married to legals, etc. Once you’re in one or more of those categories as a plaintiff, you receive more rights including due process and habeas corpus, even if not full constitutional rights.Alexjandro Mayorkas knew what he was doing when he opened the border under Biden. He wanted the illegals to have a one-way ticket and made it extremely difficult to deport any.

Here’s the point. What the left is trying to do is to create a set of rulings that will force Trump to litigate every single case. No mass deportations. No deals with foreign countries to take plane loads of illegals for incarceration in local prisons. Instead, each case will be heard individually. Each claim will be raised in a separate proceeding. Each due process argument will be heard in a separate trial.

This approach will do more than delay deportations. It will jam the court dockets. It will overwhelm the judicial branch. It will prevent the smooth functioning of a range of government functions.

Now imagine this technique expanded beyond deportation. You can apply this court-jamming massive litigation approach to the closing of government agencies, the termination of government employees, the cuts in government spending and the entire Trump agenda. Don’t just litigate. Grind the entire system to a halt. That’s the plan.

Do individual legal victories in certain cases help Trump? Not necessarily. The activist lawyers and their armies of illegals just file a new lawsuit in a different jurisdiction with slightly varied facts and start the process all over again. Is there any end to it?

Three Solutions To The Problem

One is for the Supreme Court to issue a definitive ruling that district courts cannot issue nationwide injunctions, can only issue orders for the plaintiffs in the case and not the entire class of illegals, and that the courts have almost no jurisdiction over the conduct of foreign policy. Those rulings would empower Trump’s deportation programs.

The second way is for Trump to ignore the courts and proceed as planned. Critics will scream this is “unconstitutional”, but it’s just as unconstitutional for courts to ignore their limitations and intrude on the power of the executive branch. It’s an outcome the courts will have brought upon themselves.

The third way is to abolish the district courts, or at least some of them. That’s not as radical as it sounds. The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to structure the court system any way it likes with the exception of the Supreme Court. Congress created the district courts and Congress can abolish them as well.

If one of those three paths is not taken, then the left wins. In that case, the country loses. We already have four Supreme Court votes to support Trump’s program (Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh). It only takes one more vote to win. Roberts and Barrett are the two swing votes. Let’s hope they lean the right way when the crucial case arrives.

French media are on the defensive after journalists unexpectedly entered a train carriage carrying French President Emmanuel Macron, along with the German and British Prime Ministers, en route to Kyiv on Friday, which sparked a firestorm on social media with allegations of cocaine use by the top leaders.

“They [social media users] cite videos that allegedly show Emmanuel Macron discreetly hiding a strange white bag on the table,” the French daily newspaper Libération said, adding, “And according to these accounts, Friedrich Merz even had a straw to use to take drugs. These conspiracy accusations fit with the narrative that Western elites are depraved and approach war unconsciously.” 

When reporters entered the room, Macron was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a train ride from Poland to Ukraine. 

The video.

NEW: French media is shutting down social media rumors that French President Emmanuel Macron was caught with a bag of cocaine during a trip to Ukraine.

The moment was caught during a train ride from Poland to Ukraine when reporters entered the room.

Macron was meeting with the… pic.twitter.com/RMoKQ5VkUt

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 11, 2025

Libération rushed to the defense of Macron and the Western leaders:

Several internet users, sharing posts favorable to Vladimir Putin, have claimed that the three men had used cocaine together. “Coke will decide World War III,” one of them feigned concern.

Libération even suggested:

High-quality photographs and videos, such as those taken by the AFP or AP news agencies , show that the mysterious bag of white powder is actually a handkerchief rolled into a ball that was placed on the table before Keir Starmer arrived and the cameras entered the booth, where Macron and Merz were already seated. The straw looks more like a stirrer or a toothpick, which the German chancellor is said to have been fiddling with. This explains why the two leaders do not want these objects immortalized in the images of the meeting.

Maybe Libération’s defense of Macron and the other Western leaders is accurate — perhaps it really was just a ‘handkerchief’ and a ‘toothpick.’ But the real red flag is the leaders’ abrupt and suspicious behavior as they scrambled to cover up whatever was on the table when journalists unexpectedly entered the train carriage. 

Cocaine allegations come as no surprise, considering the leaders were inbound to visit this guy… 

Zelensky is visibly high as hell on MSNBC…

How much longer are we going to let this clown show go on?

This man is coked out of his mind while getting asked about the war he is losing. This is the guy Congress wants to give another $60 billion of our money to… pic.twitter.com/K0m06ZvRE9

— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) February 26, 2024

This song seems appropriate… 

Cocaine or no cocaine. The optics here are not good. 

Authored by Kevin Rusher via CoinTelegraph.com,

It’s a volatile world out there. This year, we’ve seen stocks take a wild ride as gold has pumped and crypto has been caught somewhere in the middle. Investors have dumped risk assets and scrambled for safe havens. Gold is leading the charge.

While gold is safe, it is not very hard-working. Unlike cash and treasuries, the yellow metal does not generate income. Now, more than ever, investors need to be able to earn yield on gold — particularly in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

The only way to make money from gold is to buy low and sell high. Most investors don’t tend to buy gold like this. That’s for good reason — over the long term, gold’s performance is typically consistent, if not without a few peaks and troughs here and there, as we have recently seen.

For example, after the 2008 financial crisis, the price of gold soared 148% but stagnated for nearly a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered another rally, and it’s likely we will see gold hold, if not fall from it’s new record high once markets revive. While it remains an excellent hedge, gold’s long-term track record is not a growth story.

Investors prefer US Treasurys or high-yield savings accounts as part of a balanced portfolio. While gold may outperform these assets in uncertain times, it offers a better balance of security and predictable income over the long term. 

The DeFi solution 

This is where DeFi brings innovation to the world’s oldest asset. DeFi can significantly modernize gold investing, offering the speed and transparency of blockchain-based transactions and the ability to earn returns.

Currently, though, most tokenized gold is much the same as holding it in an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Stablecoin giants like Tether and Paxos have launched gold-backed tokens, which they say are fully backed by physical, audited gold reserves, yet offer no yield.

Most DeFi investors prefer liquid, tradable assets like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which can generate attractive returns. Many would rather, for example, buy Tether’s USDt stablecoin and stake it, earning rewards while still maintaining ownership.

Perhaps this is why the market capitalization of gold-backed tokens remains modest. Tether Gold, the world’s most significant gold token, has a market capitalization of just under $835 million, for example, while Paxos Gold sits at around $799 million. Combined, this is equivalent to just 1% of the market cap of USDT. 

Unlocking income from the world’s oldest asset 

To unlock gold’s full potential, we need to take tokenization a step further by creating a DeFi ecosystem where tokenized gold is actively put to work — borrowed, lent and integrated into yield-bearing strategies.

One possibility is for companies such as gold miners is to issue tokenized versions of their reserves that can be turned into stablecoins that can then be staked to earn a yield. Leveraging protocols whose liquidity mechanisms enable the trading of stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) tokens, holders could take advantage of further yield opportunities throughout the DeFi ecosystem.

Beyond the benefits of yield opportunities, blockchain technology means investors in tokenized gold can benefit from the flexibility of 24-hour trading, near real-time price discovery and near-instant settlement without compromising the stability of the asset. 

The future of gold investing

It is, perhaps, ironic that — just as governments worldwide are starting to put their stamp of approval on digital finance — gold is becoming a highly desirable commodity again. The public’s interest in it will grow as governments essentially ratify digital finance. At the same time, the appetite for gold in these uncertain times will also increase. 

DeFi could bring these trends together and kickstart a natural evolution in gold ownership that provides a solid bridge between traditional and digital finance. While gold inside traditional markets attracts investors looking for stability, DeFi brings opportunities that don’t compromise that stability, as it presents new and unique yield opportunities. 

Gold has captivated humanity for thousands of years. It’s the foundation of myths, the standard of wealth and the ultimate hedge against uncertainty. But in today’s financial world, it needs an upgrade.

Through integrating gold into the DeFi ecosystem, we could unlock its true potential — not just as a store of value but as an income-generating asset. The world’s oldest safe haven asset is finally on the brink of a digital evolution.

New details emerged on Sunday morning, revealing that the Trump administration could soon receive one of the most valuable gifts from a foreign government: a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family. The 747 will be retrofitted with communications systems and other equipment to transform into Air Force One.

ABC News cited people familiar with the transfer as saying that the royal family of Qatar’s jumbo jet gift will be announced next week when President Trump visits Qatar for his Middle East tour—the first major tour of his second term. The tour will concentrate on business deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Sources said the 747 will be transferred to the United States Air Force to meet the technical specifications required to fly the president and supporting staff members.

For months, President Trump has been overly frustrated with delays in Boeing’s new Air Force One production timeline. 

Earlier this month, a Wall Street Journal report said the president commissioned defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to convert the luxury 747 into Air Force One, with a completion timeline by fall of this year. 

Frustrated With Boeing, Trump Reportedly Turns To L3Harris For “Interim” Air Force One Jet https://t.co/mI3uPaFKOM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 2, 2025

In February, FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence confirmed that Boeing had suffered global supply chain snarls that changed project timings and delayed the completion date to 2029. 

White House communications director Steven Cheung told FOX Business then: “It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for such a long time.”

Also in February, the president toured the Qatari 747 at West Palm Beach International Airport and told reporters he was “not happy” with Boeing.

Considering that the U.S. president is not allowed to receive gifts from foreign governments, the 747 jet will be transferred to the USAF (U.S. Gov’t), not Trump personally. Yet we’re likely going to see a news cycle filled with misinformation and disinformation from deranged leftist journalists who claim this was a personal gift. 

ABC quoted sources that provided more color on the legality behind the gift:

Anticipating those questions, sources told ABC News that lawyers for the White House counsel’s office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution’s prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State.”

Sources told ABC News that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump’s top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be “legally permissible” for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump’s presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination.

The sources said Bondi provided a legal memorandum addressed to the White House counsel’s office last week after Warrington asked her for advice on the legality of the Pentagon accepting such a donation.

. . . 

The plane will then be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation no later than Jan. 1, 2029, and any costs relating to its transfer will be paid for by the U.S. Air Force, the sources told ABC News.

The Qataris certainly outdid themselves ahead of welcoming the president. So, what will the Saudis and Emiratis offer? We suspect these countries will try to outdo one another when making deals with the president next week.

By Ted Dabrowski of Wirepoints

Illinois and Chicago politicians have made a mess of opportunities for blacks in Chicago. In preparation for my Chicago Tonight’s Black Voices appearance last week – more on that later – I pulled together several key facts on how Chicago blacks were fairing vs. the nation’s other big cities. The data, straight from the U.S. Census or the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, is dismal.

Chicago is stuck in a vicious spiral, where too much spending has led to too much debt, including massive pension debts. Taxes, as a result, have become increasingly punitive. Pile on top of that failing schools and crime, and that’s chased out people and businesses, driving down job creation and investment. Based on the data, minorities are paying a big price relative to their peers in other big cities.

At the core of Chicago’s failure is a lack of economic growth. The metro area’s GDP, after adjusting for inflation, has grown only 4% since 2019. That’s the worst economic growth among the nation’s 15 largest metro areas. 

It’s quite the opposite for cities with pro-growth, pro-business policies. The economies of booming metros like Dallas, Seattle, Miami and Phoenix have all grown 17% or more. That’s more than four times the growth rate of Chicago.

Unsurprisingly, jobs are a problem. At 12.3%, Chicago’s black unemployment rate was the highest among the nation’s 15 biggest cities, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Jacksonville’s black jobless rate was half that of Chicago’s, and Charlotte’s was just a third.

A less dynamic economy also means lower paying jobs. The median income for black households in Chicago is just $44,413 after adjusting for cost of living. That’s the third-lowest amount among big cities.

Chicago’s black poverty rate also leads among the nation’s 15 biggest cities. Over 26% of black Chicagoans are below the poverty line – nearly 200,000 people.

And then there’s government dependency. Nearly 57% of black Chicagoans are enrolled in the food stamp program SNAP – the 3rd-highest percentage among America’s 15 big cities.

Despite the above, my fellow panelists on the Chicago Tonight show called for even more spending and tax hikes in the 2026 Illinois budget in the name of supporting the black community. 

One panelist laid out a long string of programmatic spending he wanted to see, including money for schools and healthcare and early childhood and transit funding. The other panelist laid out how to pay for it. A CTBA staffer, she called for a 1.5 percentage point hike in Illinois’ personal income tax rate to 6.45%, and if not that, then an expansion in the sales taxes to include services. A link to the segment is here. 

If I’m generous about their ideas, yes, tax increases in the short term can generate more money for more social programs. But more spending and tax hikes will only exacerbate the downward spiral Chicago is already in, creating even more dependency.

Chicagoans need the opposite. Instead of more spending and the tax hikes that go with it, lawmakers need to obsess about jobs, investment and economic growth. 

Businesses and investment will only return when lawmakers tackle what makes the city so costly. Its massive $53 billion in pension debts need major reform. Chicago Public Schools can bring down its $30,000 per student spend by closing near-empty schools and cutting back on its bloated bureaucracy. The city’s transit agencies need to stop running near-empty trains and buses and instead right-size their operations. And the public unions, in particular the teachers union, need to be de-powered. 

The problem is that our current leaders wear as a badge of pride how many people they can get on Medicaid and food stamps. They ignore the fact that people, no matter their color, can’t thrive without good jobs and good pay.

Illinois needs a new set of lawmakers that will prioritize economic growth over government dependency.

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De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, is shutting down its lab-grown diamond jewelery brand, Lightbox, marking a strategic retreat from selling synthetic gems to consumers, according to a report from mining.com.

This move aligns with De Beers’ renewed commitment to natural diamonds, a return to the philosophy behind its iconic “Diamonds are Forever” slogan, the report says.

The decision also follows parent company Anglo American’s efforts to streamline operations as part of a broader restructuring. Anglo American, which put De Beers up for sale last year, continues to evaluate options for the 137-year-old business.

The mining.com report says that De Beers entered the lab-grown jewelery market in 2018, reversing its long-held policy of limiting synthetic stones to industrial uses.

However, in June last year, it announced a production halt for Lightbox as part of a five-year plan to simplify its operations and reassert its leadership in the natural diamond and diamond jewelery market.

Element Six, De Beers’ synthetic diamond division that previously supplied Lightbox, will now concentrate exclusively on industrial markets.

“Element Six is well-positioned to seize the rapidly growing potential for synthetic diamond applications across a range of future-facing technologies,” the company stated.

This exit from the synthetic jewelery space comes amid significant turbulence in the diamond market. Weak demand from China and an oversupply of lab-grown diamonds have depressed prices, complicating Anglo American’s plans to divest.

After recording a $1.6 billion writedown last year, Anglo American further slashed De Beers’ valuation by $2.9 billion in February. At that time, CEO Duncan Wanblad noted that De Beers could remain part of the group until 2026, depending on market conditions.

Sweden’s national security apparatus was once again thrust into disarray Friday after Tobias Thyberg, newly appointed as National Security Adviser, resigned less than 24 hours into the job over ‘sensitive’ photos tied to a past dating app profile.

The abrupt departure marks the second consecutive scandal for the nation’s top security post, raising questions about vetting procedures and institutional stability at a time when Sweden is navigating rising geopolitical tension in Northern and Eastern Europe, Politico reports.

“Shortly after the government’s decision yesterday to appoint Tobias Thyberg, entirely new personal information about him emerged,” said Johan Stuart, State Secretary to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in a statement. “This is, of course, serious.”

According to Stuart, Thyberg admitted Thursday evening that he failed to disclose relevant personal information during the recruitment process, which he was obligated to share. He voluntarily withdrew from the position soon after. Annika Brändström, deputy national security adviser, will serve in an interim capacity while a new search begins.

The resignation followed inquiries from Dagens Nyheter, Sweden’s largest newspaper, which contacted Thyberg regarding “sensitive” images linked to a defunct Grindr dating profile.

“These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr,” Thyberg told the paper. “I should have informed [the government] about this but I didn’t. I have therefore said I do not intend to take up the position.”

Thyberg’s professional record includes stints as ambassador to Afghanistan (2017–2019), ambassador to Ukraine until 2023, and most recently, as head of the foreign ministry’s unit for Eastern Europe and Central Asia—regions critical to Sweden’s expanding defense posture following its accession to NATO in March 2024.

The latest resignation deepens the sense of instability around the position. Thyberg’s predecessor, Henrik Landerholm, stepped down in January after a prosecutor opened an investigation into his mishandling of highly classified documents at a conference facility in 2023.

Sweden has only had two national security advisers since creating the role in 2022, both now felled by unforced errors. While the office itself remains operational, the pattern has drawn scrutiny from opposition lawmakers and national security observers who warn that persistent turnover in the post risks undermining Sweden’s credibility among Western allies.

For now, the Kristersson government faces the delicate task of finding a third appointee – someone with deep regional expertise, but without the kind of personal baggage that could once again make headlines.

Via The Cradle

Syria’s interim Energy Minister, Mohammad al-Bashir, announced Friday that Damascus and Ankara have reached a deal for Turkey to deliver 6 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day to Syria within the next three months.

“I agreed with my Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on supplying Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline,” Bashir told SANA.

His statement came hours after Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told CNN Turk late Thursday that Ankara “will provide natural gas to Syria from Kilis within the next three months.”

“We have made rapid progress in Syria because our natural gas line has already extended to Kilis, near the Syrian border,” the Turkish official said. “We will effectively be supplying fuel to the gas power plants there.”

Bayraktar also noted that initiatives to deliver electricity directly to Syria alongside natural gas are underway. The Turkish minister stated Ankara is supplying about 200 megawatts to Aleppo and has finalized the required permitting for further exports.

“We plan to increase this by an additional 500 megawatts, aiming to reach between 700 and 800 megawatts of electricity exports in the coming months,” he explained.

Bayraktar made the announcement hours after the Syrian Finance Ministry revealed that Qatar will provide $29 million per month for three months, with the possibility of extension, to help cover about one-fifth of public sector salaries.

Late last month, Saudi Arabia and Qatar announced that they would settle Syria’s $15 million debt to the World Bank, allowing the international lender to resume its activities in the country after a hiatus of more than 14 years.

Ankara, Doha, and Riyadh were key players in the 13-year war in Syria, alongside US intelligence agencies.

The allied nations funded and protected extremist armed groups that, last December, finally toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian Leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Qaeda name: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), is still on the US terrorism list, but was hosted by President Macron of France and given the red carpet treatment this week.