For the 16th month in a row, China bought gold into reserves in February even as bullion prices hovered near record highs.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added another 30,000 troy ounces last month, lifting official reserves to approximately 2,309 metric tonnes (74.22 million ounces), valued at $388 billion.

This represents roughly 9-10% of China’s total foreign reserves.

At this pace, China is closing in on the top global holders (still behind US ~8,133t, Germany ~3,352t, but climbing fast).

Since November 2024, the PBOC has increased its gold holdings by a total of 1.4 million ounces.

Central banks are not alone, as CoinTelegraph’s Martin Young reports, retail gold purchases have tripled over the last six months, while Wall Street selling has accelerated over the past four months, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

“Retail-driven exuberance,” increasingly channeled through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), “set the stage for outsize moves,” continuing the precious metal rally from 2025, reported the BIS in a quarterly review released on Monday. 

Since Q2 2025, retail investors have bought around $70 billion in gold ETFs, and these purchases have more than tripled over the last six months, observed the Kobeissi Letter, citing BIS data on Thursday.

“Retail investors are all-in on precious metals,” it noted. 

Gold has surged 60% over the past year, and some crypto proponents have speculated it has come at the expense of Bitcoin, which some argue competes with gold as a store-of-value asset.

BIS data shows cumulative retail inflows effectively tripled from around $20 billion to roughly $60 billion over the six months from late Q3 2025 to the end of Q1 2026.

However, institutional selling started around mid-November and accelerated after the precious metals market began to correct in January, according to the data. 

Bitcoin is not the only asset susceptible to high volatility from overleveraged positions. 

Prices of precious metals such as gold and silver reversed abruptly in late January and February 2026, while the “daily rebalancing of leveraged ETFs and margin‑triggered liquidations amplified the swings,” particularly in silver, BIS reported.

Smaller speculative derivatives traders, or “non-reportables,” had built up heavily leveraged long positions in silver heading into the crash, it added. 

Gold prices are in ‘correction’ currently, down over 16% from its record highs in January.

The abrupt price drop and the spike in precious metal volatility “point to the role of retail flows, and amplification of price moves due to forced sales by leveraged ETFs, trend-following investors such as commodity trading advisers, and margin dynamics,” BIS stated. 

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday once again rejected a motion to discharge S.J. Res. 118, a joint resolution to withdraw American armed forces from military actions in Iran sans Congressional approval. The motion was shot down in a 47–53 vote.

The measure, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), is an attempt to invoke the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to require explicit congressional approval for ongoing U.S. military involvement in the region.

The motion was rejected mostly along party lines, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) providing the lone Republican supporter and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voting with Republicans.

“If there’s anything that is plain in that Constitution, it is that a president does not have the power to unilaterally bring a nation and its treasure, to bring a nation and its men and women into conflict without a say of Congress,” Booker said on the Senate floor.

“This is not a partisan issue. This is not a left or right issue. It is a right or wrong, do you stand with the Constitution of the United States of America?”

The U.S.-led military campaign against Iran entered its third week on Wednesday as Iran engages in retaliatory strikes across the region, disrupting global energy flows and driving up oil prices. Iran launched missiles and drones late Wednesday night a toward Israel and several Persian Gulf countries, continuing a trend of targeting its neighbors.

The Israel Defense Forces, as well as defense measures in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, have responded to Iran’s attacks. Israel conducted strikes in Tehran Tuesday, killing Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official, as well as Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Basij force.

Meanwhile, Brent crude prices have skyrocketed above $100 per barrel as Middle East oil exports have been halted. Strikes against Iranian gas fields have contributed to the increase in oil prices. Two Canadian cargo ships are stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to pass through the waterway.

U.S. intelligence says Iran’s regime remains in power, but it’s deteriorated.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said it would likely dedicate years to rebuild drone, missile, and other capabilities if it does not fall as a result of the conflict.

If the unstated intention of the Iran war was to give far more leverage to Russia, and – paradoxically – to Iran, by legitimizing their sanctioned oil exports in a world suddenly starved of energy, then mission accomplished.

Just days after the US “temporarily” lifted sanctions on Russian oil stored on sanctioned tankers, Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the Trump administration may suspend sanctions on Iranian oil already at sea in a bid to clamp down on energy prices.

“In the coming days we may unsanction Iranian oil that’s on the water, about 140 million barrels,” he said on Fox Business, adding that “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days, as we continue this campaign.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. pic.twitter.com/7OJN7t1ZtT

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 19, 2026

It’s the latest play weighed by the administration to stabilize the oil market against price shocks since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint operation in February. The maneuver could free up 140 million barrels of Iranian oil for global use, Bessent said.

It’s one of several “levers” Bessent said the administration has at its disposal, as Iranian attacks cripple the Strait of Hormuz, whose blockade has shuttered roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply. The administration could also make more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve available, Bessent added. The administration already started making 172 million barrels from the SPR available.

“So we have lots of levers, we’ve got plenty more that we can do,” Bessent said. “Some countries are going to do more, the U.S. could unilaterally do another SPR release to keep the price down.” 

The White House has discussed adding up to 100 million more barrels to the administration’s pledge last week, Politico reported citing a person familiar with the plan. 

“Some military advisers are concerned [about] draining so much, and are pushing for more like 50 million barrels on the concern that further destruction of oil and gas infrastructure in the [Middle East] region could leave the country vulnerable from a reserve standpoint,” this person said. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy — which controls the SPR — said in a statement following Bessent’s interview there were currently no plans for another release.

“The United States has taken several actions thus far to mitigate disruptions to energy markets,” DOE spokesperson Ben Dietderich said. “While the U.S. continues to consider all options to keep markets supplied, there are currently no plans for an additional SPR release.”

Bessent comments come a day after the US Administration announced a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act shipping law, temporarily allowing foreign-flagged vessels to move fuel, fertilizer and other goods between US ports

Which leaves unsanctioning Iranian oil as the most likely next step. 

The plan is being floated at a time when a massive, nearly $70 gap has opened in price between oil delivered to Asia via Oman, which is now trading at $167/barrell and WTI which serves the US market at $97. Meanwhile Brent, last trading at $113, is rising and is increasingly disconnected with WTI on fears the US may ban oil exports, undoing Barack Obama’s 2015 decision, and landlocking US production. 

What is remarkable about the Bessent proposal is that it comes just as Iranian oil exports surged on March 17 to over 4 million barrels after being heavily depressed for the past few days. If Iran can sustain this level of exports, it would be more than double the pre-war daily average of just over $2 million barrels!

Oil and product flows through the strait have plummeted from roughly 20 million barrels a day to just “a trickle,” the International Energy Agency reported last week, marking the largest supply disruption in history. U.S. gas prices are up by more than 85 cents per gallon from the start of the war. Bessent called the blockade a “temporary chokepoint” and implored American allies to help secure the strait.

“They’re the ones who need this oil,” he said. “The U.S., we’re an oil exporter.”

Yet while China is especially reliant on Gulf oil, having been traditionally the biggest customer, China also has a strategic petroleum reserve that it quietly filled up in recent years, and which currently has ~1.5 billion barrels, or more than the entire 1.2 billion reserve across IEA member nations. The question then becomes is Beijing willing to dip into its reserve while Asian prices remain elevated (or perhaps stoop so low as to purchase US oil), or is it waiting for a more strategic moment, like the invasion of Taiwan before starting the SPR drain. 

Alibaba ADRs suffered their sharpest drop in six months during the US cash session after quarterly results revealed a massive tumble in net income and sluggish top-line growth, overshadowing yet another quarter of triple-digit expansion across its cloud and AI businesses.

Third-quarter results showed that Alibaba’s core retail business remained sluggish, while its Cloud Intelligence Group posted 36% growth compared with the same period one year ago.

Revenue for the quarter rose by only 1.7% year-over-year to RMB 284.84 billion, missing the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of RMB 289.79 billion. Adjusted EPS, EBITDA, and net income all fell below analyst expectations, with adjusted net income plunging 67% year-over-year.

Here’s a snapshot of the earnings:

Revenue 284.84 billion yuan, +1.7% y/y, estimate 289.79 billion yuan (Bloomberg Consensus)

Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group revenue 39.20 billion yuan, +3.8% y/y, estimate 41.67 billion yuan
Cloud Intelligence Group revenue 43.28 billion yuan, +36% y/y, estimate 42.36 billion yuan
China E-commerce Business Group revenue 159.35 billion yuan, +5.8% y/y, estimate 165.94 billion yuan

Adjusted earnings per American depositary receipts 7.09 yuan vs. 21.39 yuan y/y, estimate 12.34 yuan

Adjusted EBITDA 34.06 billion yuan, -45% y/y, estimate 39.62 billion yuan

Adjusted net income 16.71 billion yuan, -67% y/y, estimate 31.6 billion yuan

All Other revenue 67.34 billion yuan, -25% y/y, estimate 66.93 billion yuan

Alibaba’s dismal earnings report highlights the pressure to monetize its costly AI buildout. CEO Eddie Wu, on a call with analysts earlier, offered few details on execution, implying Alibaba would need to sustain 35% annual growth to reach that goal.

“The business goal of Alibaba’s AI strategy is very clear. Over the next five years, our goal is to surpass $100 billion in combined cloud and AI external revenue,” Wu told the analysts.

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Robert Lea and Jasmine Lyu noted, “Alibaba’s push into agentic AI and creation of a “Token Hub” won’t alter the e-commerce giant’s AI profit outlook, which remains challenged. API (application programming interfaces) from companies including Tencent, MiniMax and Baidu is a loss-leading service despite recent price increases, reflecting high computational costs and low industry pricing. Rising cloud demand won’t offset pressure in Alibaba’s e-commerce and food-delivery businesses either, which remain the company’s primary earnings drivers.”

Alibaba is also pressing ahead with a full-stack AI strategy anchored by its proprietary T-Head chips, which management says have now entered scaled production. This signals a chip war with US tech firms and provides a tailwind for Alibaba’s hardware push, as both state-backed and private-sector customers seek to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and boost domestically produced chips.

In the cash session in New York, BABA ADR fell 6.3%, the largest intraday decline since October 10, 2025, or about six months ago. Shares of BABA peaked in late fall last year and are down 14% year to date.

BABA’s big drop in net income is certainly overshadowing its AI progress.

Having diverged significantly overnight from Brent crude prices, WTI is now exploding higher, breaking back above $100, after hopes of a US export ban were crushed by Politico’s sources.

Sophia Cai (@SophiaCai99) posted on X that:

NEW: The White House will not implement a crude export ban, and told oil executives as much at this morning’s meeting with API, per an admin official who participated in the meeting.

The reaction was immediate…

Erasing the overnight blowout in the WTI-Brent spread…

Will The White House deny this and signal the possibility?

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

An investigation by CBS News has discovered massive Medicare fraud at more than 700 out of 1,800 licensed hospice providers in Los Angeles County.

The scam utilizes stolen Medicare numbers to fraudulently enroll healthy seniors in hospice with fake terminal diagnoses, billing Medicare an average of $29,000 per patient without delivering care, to the tune of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

CALIFORNIA HOSPICE FRAUD: There’s a stretch in Los Angeles with 500 registered hospice companies within just three miles of each other. And 89 in a single building. But when we visited, we found empty offices, piled-up mail, and phone lines dead.

Watch CBS News’ exclusive… pic.twitter.com/ydb8v0RqxE

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 10, 2026

About 31 percent of hospice and home health companies in the U.S. are registered in L.A. County but when investigators visited the addresses listed, they found no clinics, patients or healthcare workers.

Instead they found multiple red flags, including multiple hospices in one building, high rates of terminally ill patients later discharged alive, excessive billing, and staff shared across multiple companies.

The California state auditor had sounded the alarm three years ago, saying that Los Angeles County had seen the number of hospice companies increase more than six times the national average, relative to its elderly population.

Let’s put this in perspective.

The population of residents age 65 or over in California is estimated at 6.3 million while Florida estimates its population of 65+ residents at 4.9 million.

Public records show 2,279 Medicare-certified hospice organizations in California with just 208 such Medicare-certified organizations in Florida.

This raises serious questions as to why California would have more than 10 times the number of Medicare-certified hospice organizations than Florida when it has less than twice the population of 65+ residents.

According to CBS, in just one year, L.A. County hospices overbilled Medicare by $105 million, prompting the state to investigate and revoke the licenses of 280 hospices.

This latest revelation of potential Medicare fraud shows that the problem of scammers enriching themselves at taxpayer expense extends far beyond Minnesota, which has been under scrutiny for the past few months over the alleged theft of billions of taxpayer dollars via social services.

It also reveals the silver lining that a mainstream news organization is finally willing to do investigative reporting on suspected fraud rather than leaving the heavy lifting to citizen journalists like Nick Shirley, who blew the lid off taxpayer fraud in Minnesota and then turned his sights on California.

Gavin Newsom’s California. https://t.co/ARapSidBCF

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) March 11, 2026

The Keynesian-Austrian debate has raged for over a century. Questions of deficits, taxes, money printing, and their impact on inflation are at the center of the disagreement. War breaking out in the Middle East means we will see more of these three inputs, so how will they show up as inflation: in assets, consumer goods, everywhere?

Tonight, two opposing economists will answer those questions and how these macro trends are likely to impact markets.

On one side is Bard College professor Randall Wray, a leading advocate of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Opposing him is Robert Murphy, senior fellow of the Mises Institute, representing the Austrian school. The discussion will be moderated by Kevin Muir, author of the widely read Macro Tourist newsletter.

Join us on the ZeroHedge X feed or YouTube channel at 7pm ET tonight to watch the showdown. 

Deficits: Constraint Or Illusion?

Wray and MMT-schoolers argue that for a sovereign currency issuer, deficits are not inherently problematic but instead a necessary tool to support demand, employment, and financial stability.

Murphy and the Austrians conversely believe that deficits, particularly when monetized via the printing press, have all sorts of negative effects:

Distort price signals
Crowd out productive investment (by offering high-interest risk-free government bonds to wealthy investors that might otherwise loan to a business).
Lead to economic imbalances that must be corrected

Those “corrections”, often in the form of painful recessions, are what the Keynesians (and today’s MMTers) try very hard to avoid. But can we kick the can down the road indefinitely? With the national debt now reaching $39 trillion.

The inflation debate remains unresolved as well. MMT proponents tend to frame inflation as the only real constraint and one that should be managed through taxation and policy calibration.

From the Austrian perspective, central planning does not work. Inflation cannot be managed because governments will always be incentivized to overspend and undertax (politically unpopular). Therefore, the printing press is left to fill the gap.

Both parties will likely agree that nobody benefits from the energy shocks of the Iran war, the deficits from the $100 billion+ spent since its inception, and the diverting of limited resources towards guns/explosives that might otherwise make goods to improve our daily lives.

It is a question of how to solve our economic ailments and how to manage a crisis. Top-down or bottom-up? Government-led or free markets?

Tune in tonight at 7pm ET to hear from both sides.

President Donald Trump is expected to use today’s White House meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at 11:15 ET to press Tokyo for naval support in the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran – specifically requesting minesweepers and escorts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, tapping their oil reserves, developing missiles, and in non-Iran news, are expected to announce a $40 billion nuclear power project in the southern US. 

 U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attend a signing ceremony at Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool Photo via AP FILE 

Despite publicly declaring that the United States “does not need the help of anyone,” Trump has repeatedly lashed out at allies for their lukewarm response and continues to urge partners to clear mines and escort tankers through the critical waterway. The request places Takaichi in an awkward position: Japan relies on the Gulf for 95% of its crude oil imports, yet any deployment of the Maritime Self-Defense Force would clash with the country’s pacifist constitution and deeply unpopular domestic sentiment toward the war.

“Japan gets 95 percent of its crude oil supplies from the Gulf,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Thursday ahead of the meeting. “I would expect that they would want to ensure its supplies are safe.”

Japan’s Navy notably has some of the best minesweepers and mine detection capabilities in the world, according to Bessent, who said it puts Tokyo in a perfect position to assist – and that they should release their oil reserves to ease pressure on global oil markets.

“I think we’re going to have a very good discussion with the prime minister,” he said. “President Trump has an excellent relationship with her.”

Trump may also seek Japanese production or co-development of missiles to replenish U.S. stocks depleted by the Iran conflict and Ukraine war. Japan maintains ties with Tehran, potentially offering a diplomatic channel, though past mediation efforts failed, Reuters reports.

Unlike Washington, Tokyo has diplomatic relations with Tehran, creating a potential avenue for diplomacy in any moves to end the war, although past attempts ​by Japan to mediate with Tehran in 2019 were unsuccessful.

Takaichi will also tell Trump that Japan intends to join the “Golden Dome”, opens new tab missile defense initiative that ​is meant to detect, track ⁠and potentially counter incoming threats from orbit, two Japanese government sources said. –Reuters

Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, has so far offered no concrete assistance. Speaking to parliament on Monday, she confirmed no official U.S. request had been received but said officials were “checking the scope of possible action within the limits of its constitution.” In public comments before departure, she described the trip as “very difficult” and stressed that her “top priority is the early de-escalation of the situation.”

The visit – Takaichi’s first to Washington since taking office – was originally designed to burnish the U.S.-Japan alliance, remind Trump of the China threat ahead of his now-postponed trip to Beijing, and announce a fresh wave of Japanese investment in the United States. Tokyo had already committed $550 billion in projects to win tariff relief; a second tranche of roughly $60-100 billion in critical minerals, energy, and other sectors was expected to be unveiled during the visit.

$40 Billion Reactor Project

Trump and Takaichi are also expected to unveil a major nuclear initiative at the White House today, channeling fresh capital from the US-Japan $550 billion investment fund created under their bilateral trade agreement.

Trump and Japanese PM Takaichi are set to announce a $40BN nuclear power project in the southern US, the latest initiative stemming from an investment fund the countries established as part of a trade pact.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 19, 2026

GE Vernova and Hitachi, under their existing joint venture GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH), will construct BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs) in Tennessee and Alabama, with the projects valued at up to $40 billion. Specific timelines for operation remain under wraps, but the deal highlights accelerating momentum for advanced nuclear technology.

This announcement follows the first tranche of commitments under the fund, which we covered in detail last month. Those initial projects totaled $36 billion and focused on a massive natural gas facility in Ohio, a synthetic diamond plant in Georgia, and a Gulf Coast crude export terminal.

The BWRX-300 units, each roughly 300 MW, are designed for faster factory-built deployment than traditional gigawatt-scale plants. Sites in Tennessee tie into the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Clinch River development, while Alabama locations will partner with private developers. No SMRs currently operate on US grids, but the Trump administration has prioritized regulatory streamlining and federal support to shorten timelines that have historically stretched a decade or more.

We previously covered the US-Japan trade deal and the surrounding agreements back in October of last year when investments worth over $500 billion were pledged by Japan. At the time, the announced value of investments for GE Vernova reactors was $100 billion, so this barely represents even half of that previously announced commitment. It remains unknown where the other $60 billion will be directed to.

There are also outstanding commitments from Japan to support NuScale with up to $25 billion, and Westinghouse with an additional $100 billion. The $100 billion for Westinghouse will most likely be in the form of funding the $80 billion agreement between the US, Cameco, and Brookfield for 10 AP1000s. 

Exact unit counts, financing splits, and commercial operation dates were not detailed ahead of the formal announcement. Additional energy, minerals, or defense deals could surface during the visit.

So – Iran, Oil, and Nuclear power are on the agenda, officially or not.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

An Oregon high school principal placed on leave for celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk has been sentenced to five years in prison for possession of child abuse material.

Jeremy P. Williams, former head of Rainier Junior-Senior High School, now joins a disturbing list of leftists in education and politics whose public anti-conservative rage masked far darker realities threatening children.

Williams pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing sexually explicit images of minors. He was initially hit with 13 counts after the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Aug. 28.

BREAKING – An Oregon high school principal, Jeremy P. Williams, who was placed on leave for celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk, has been sentenced to five years in prison for possession of child abuse material, which he attributed to Reddit when speaking with officers. pic.twitter.com/WFddW14ab1

— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) March 18, 2026

He received a five-year prison term, must register as a sex offender for 15 years, and will serve 36 months of community custody upon release. The Rainier School District placed him on administrative leave after his comments celebrating Kirk’s September 2025 assassination, though the exact wording remains undisclosed.

FAFO- sick f*ck!

Jeremy Peter Williams, the former principal of Rainier Junior/Senior High School in Rainier, Oregon (the school district spans the Oregon-Washington border area, and the arrest occurred in Cowlitz County, Washington).

In September 2025, following the… pic.twitter.com/OytfDnfa2E

— QuestionIt (@Amy31129057) March 13, 2026

This isn’t an isolated case. It fits a clear pattern among leftists who rail against figures like Kirk while their own conduct endangers the next generation.

The very man who first tried to muddy the waters around Kirk’s killing faced identical charges. George Zinn, 71, immediately claimed responsibility at the Utah Valley University event. He shouted, “I shot him! Now shoot me!” to create chaos and help the actual shooter escape, later admitting it was to “draw attention from the real shooter.”

Investigators searching his phone discovered child sexual abuse material — graphic images of children aged 5 to 12. Zinn pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced earlier this year to prison time on those counts.

Elderly man who lied he’d shot Charlie Kirk moments after assassination ‘caught with child porn on his phone’ https://t.co/8hpEzCavQR

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) September 16, 2025

Social media quickly connected the dots to this initial false confessor, underscoring how the same circles that celebrated Kirk’s death often harbor the very predators America First policies aim to expose and remove from positions of trust.

The pattern extends further. 

Just last month, San Jose Sunrise Middle School assistant principal Ruben Guzman was arrested in an FBI-led child sex sting operation after undercover officers posed as juveniles online. Guzman, 31, communicated with someone he believed was a 13-year-old boy, offering money for sexual acts as part of a pre-Super Bowl operation that netted 11 arrests.

These cases pile up in the education sector and among self-proclaimed progressive activists. Chicago Public Schools teacher Jaron Woodsley was charged in August 2025 with receiving and distributing child pornography after sharing images via Telegram last fall.

Far-left activist Houston Curry Wade, a former part-time faculty member at Edmonds College who regularly branded Republicans “pedophiles,” was arrested in late 2025 on charges of attempted child molestation in the first degree and communication with a minor for immoral purposes after attempting to meet who he thought was a minor.

Former New Hampshire Democratic lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton was charged in 2023 with aiding and abetting the sexual exploitation of children after forensic review found over 10,000 explicit messages and transfers involving child images from a day care center.

Florida Democratic Party treasurer Matthew Inman, also president of the local Rainbow Democrats LGBTQ+ group, was arrested in January 2025 on federal charges for receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors say he shared videos of adults abusing young children with an undercover agent posing as the father of a 9-year-old boy. Inman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in September 2025.

In Virginia, Democratic operative Randon Alexander Sprinkle was arrested in December 2025 on charges of distribution of child pornography. The FBI affidavit detailed his sharing of files with an undercover agent, including content involving young victims; he faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years if convicted.

From educators to party officials and activists, the rot runs deep across leftist institutions.

Kirk’s assassination sparked outrage and a surge in Turning Point USA interest — over 100,000 inquiries for new chapters, including high school Club America efforts. Yet the same voices who mocked or justified his death now see their own disgusting crimes laid bare in courtrooms.

Leftist institutions and media spent weeks defending or downplaying celebrations of violence on platforms like BlueSky. Meanwhile, the very people entrusted with molding young minds — or steering Democratic politics — stand exposed as predators.

This is the inevitable outcome when ideology excuses moral collapse and institutions prioritize narrative over child safety.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Despite falling mortgage rates, analysts expected December’s drop in new home sales to accelerate in January… and accelerate they did… crashing a stunning 17.6% MoM (-2.7% MoM exp) – the biggest MoM drop since July 2013.

This huge MoM drop dragged sales down 11.3% YoY – the worst slide in three years…

Source: Bloomberg

This huge drop dragged the new home sales SAAR down to its lowest since 2022, catching down to existing and pending sales…

Inventories are up (Houses for sale in Jan. rose 0.4% m/m to 476,000), prices are down (Median down 6.8% YoY at $400k – lowest since 2024)…

…and remember these deals were signed in January – meaning this is not mortgage related (some suggesting weather impact – Northeast sales down 44.7% MoM, MidWest -33.9% MoM, but the scale is immense).

Of course, the future could get pretty dark as mortgage rates have surged since the war in Iran began…

…so much for helping ‘affordability’. Looks like homebuilders are going to be ‘incentivizing’ a lot more soon.