Category: Update

A year ago, on June 24, 2025, a resolution was introduced into Congress to once again impeach President Donald Trump. But that was not the most interesting Trump-related story of the day. The president, walking towards Marine One (the name of the helicopter when in service of the president) was accosted by reporters who asked about Iran and the country’s commitment to peace:

The subject was Iran, but Trump brought up Israel’s breaking of the peace, and stated that Israel and Iran “have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.” Trump’s expletive-laden remarks followed an incident where Israel reported intercepting a missile launched by Iran, shortly after he had celebrated an “epic ceasefire” between the two nations.

On the same day, Trump also posted on Truth Social, urging Israel not to launch further attacks on Iran, specifically writing: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

Since then, the president has sided with Israel’s desire to escalate a regime-change war with Iran. This has not proven successful, by most observers’ judgments, and the president has tried repeatedly to obtain some lasting peace. This has been a less-than-coherent peace process, however. Exactly a year after his “they don’t know what the” comment, Trump expressed chagrin at what he said was an Iranian attack on a cargo ship. Then followed retaliation:

U.S. forces launched strikes on Iran on June 26 in response to a drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said later the same day that it targeted American positions in the region in response to the U.S. attack, but did not clarify what those positions were. The United States has not issued any statements on Iran’s latest action.

Ryan Morgan, “U.S. Strikes Iran in Response to Attack on Cargo Ship,” The Epoch Times (June 26, 2026).

The political reaction has been pointed, from the White House:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday called Iran’s attack a violation of the ceasefire reached by the two countries.

Vice President JD Vance followed up in a post on X, saying “violence will be met with violence.”

“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement,” Vance also wrote. “We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the [memorandum of understanding] is being applied, they can pick up the phone.”

The Epoch Times, ibid.

Six years ago, as we were beginning to unravel the lies at the heart of the coronavirus pandemic, we encountered one doctor’s very specific prevarications about his role in the Wuhan laboratory that had developed the virus. Paul Jacob wrote about him in “Twelve Monkeys in Charge?,” published here on June 18, 2020. The man’s name? Lieber.

In the midst of all this has been one Dr. Charles Lieber, a 61-year-old nanoscience researcher, who recently “has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of making false statements and will be arraigned in federal court in Boston at a later date.  Lieber was arrested on Jan. 28, 2020, and charged by criminal complaint.” He allegedly lied about his relationship with China’s Thousand Talents Plan and his role as a “Strategic Scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology in China.

Where SARS-CoV-2 — the coronavirus of the current pandemic — apparently came from.

The case received scant attention at the time. Paul Jacob took note of this lack of attention in early 2021.

But what happened to Dr. Lieber after that?

Lieber was convicted of six felonies in December 2021, including two counts of making false statements to the FBI and investigators from the Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health regarding his participation in the Chinese government’s Thousand Talents Program, as well as four counts of filing false tax returns. Convicted in December 2021 he was sentenced to one day in prison — time already served (before trial) — as well as “two years of supervised release including half-a-year of house arrest and a $50,000 fine,” according to The Harvard Crimson in early April 2023.

The Lieber case is not directly related to the Wuhan gain-of-function research, or its funding; it is a separate issue rising out of a Department of Justice investigation of academic espionage at American universities.

Precisely how Lieber’s nanotech work fit in with the Wuhan effort we do not know. The investigations, so far, appear to be focused on following the money.

Sure, this story is about money, too. But a different stream of money. Different from the Fauci-EcoHealth Alliance-Wuhan lab stream.

In April 2025, after release from home confinement, Lieber became a full-time chair professor at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, a graduate school of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, China. He has also been employed as SMART Investigator at the newly-established Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. Some see this as a case of “brain drain” of U.S. talent to China.

To clarify this situation — which Paul Jacob brought up mainly as a way to show the failure of major media to investigate the bizarre relationship between China and American scientists — here we go: there is no direct link between the crimes for which Lieber was convicted and the creation of the infamous “China virus.” Lieber’s crime was hiding money, not hiding a virus; he hid his relationship with China while declaring to his American funder, the National Institute for Health, that he had no such ties.

A kind of fraud? A spy-like fraud, perhaps.

But undoubtedly there is more to uncover.

This week Tulsi Gabbard stepped down as Director of National Intelligence. But, before she left, she got one more bit of secret government out in the open: the files showing just how evil Anthony Fauci is and was. Here is the beginning of the ODNI press release:

Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research That Sparked COVID
New Evidence Fauci Manipulated Intelligence and Lied to Congress
WASHINGTON D.C. — Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony Fauci, as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), provided millions in US taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)—work which is now widely viewed as the source of the unintentional lab leak that sparked the pandemic.
Today, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is releasing never-before-seen communications and documents exposing how Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the Intelligence Community (IC) to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’ lab-leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives. These documents expose Fauci’s direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19, and how Fauci lied to Congress in 2024, when under oath he denied knowledge of or participation in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.

ODNI News Release 11-26, June 18, 2026.

Tulsi Gabbard’s video announcement is well-spoken, as usual:

The release of data (to be found on the ODNI website) has received a great deal of social media attention, one of the most illustrious being a tweet from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: “Thank you, Tulsi, for documenting Dr. Fauci’s central role in causing the COVID-19 pandemic — among the most consequential crimes in human history.”

Paul Jacob has covered Fauci’s perfidy and the “lab leak theory” extensively:

• Twelve Monkeys in Charge — June 18, 2020
• Lab Rats — March 31, 2031
• Lab Rats II: The Conspiracy — April 6, 2021
• Lab Rats III: Doubling Down on Danger — April 7, 2021

As the federal government’s debt climbs up to $40 trillion, it is time, once again, to mark our place on the march to insolvency, especially as it regards to the one program upon which the most number of Americans rely, Social Security. As the U.S. Debt Clock shows, there are over 63 million Americans retired on the program, over 8 million on the disabled prong of the program, nearly 65 million enrolled in Medicare, and over 88 million people getting Medicaid benefits.

That is a lot of people to support! But are these programs really in financial danger?

Reason magazine helps:

Ernest Hemingway once wrote that there are two ways to go bankrupt: “gradually and then suddenly.”

For Social Security, the “gradually” phase is coming to an end. According to the latest report from the trustees who oversee Social Security, the program will hit insolvency in late 2032 — and, at that point, benefits will be cut by about 22 percent. That moment of crisis is no longer some distant problem to be worried about in the future. Senators elected later this year will be serving their terms when the “suddenly” arrives. 

Eric Boehm, “Social Security Is Going Bankrupt Because Its Benefits Are Too Generous,” Reason (June 11, 2026).

Take a look at the 2026 Trustees’ Report linked to in the Reason article:

What to do about the bad financing? Reason offers the obvious, if chilling, advice: cut benefits. “Benefits to most Social Security recipients could be cut significantly without pushing anyone into poverty. And that’s what should happen. Social Security is a safety net program, not one meant to finance a lavish retirement lifestyle.”

Careful readers might be tempted to note that this is not the usual way that Reason looks at Social Security. Usually libertarians and free-market economists emphasize the ill-designed nature of the program, and blame Congress for how it has handled this core welfare-state institution for nearly a century, in effect castigating politicians for the growing revenue-and-spending imbalances. And that is all very true. However, it is all water under the broken dike. Sunk costs, so to speak. We cannot do anything now about the past.

We have a program, many people rely upon it, many more people want it to carry on doing all the things it has been doing. But very soon some things just will not be possible: like paying retirees at the same rates and with the same consistency as in the past.

This is not magic. Somebody has to pay.

A third tranche of disclosed UFO material was unleashed upon the world this week. But some of the material was of a more mundane interest. Government As Usual, you might say.

The year was 1949, and the U.S. was in the process of trying to rebuild Europe after the second world war. But things were not going well in Greece, as Robert S. Allen (MBS) explained to his superiors:

Secret Report: From time to time this program has related some shocking facts about the Greek Aid Program. This is costing the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars. Disclosures about the incompetence, graft and obstructionism of the reactionary Greek government, and the incompetence, bungling and waste of U.S. officials in Greece — these disclosures have not set well with certain high authorities in the State Department and the Pentagon Building. There has been a lot of muttering. Tonight, this program can report a complete official confirmation of these shocking disclosures. This official confirmation is contained in the report in the hands of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Marshall Plan.

The latest war dot gov slash UFO tranche contains a lot of perfect material for anyone interested in history. And not just about the bizarre unidentified flying object problem. This particular report-within-a-file helps explain why those inhabiting the corridors of power keep secrets: it makes government look bad to tell the truth.

“On June 4, the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, internet users across China reported intensified online censorship, including tighter controls by social media platforms and messaging groups on content related — directly or indirectly — to the date.”

Thus begins a June 6 article from The Epoch Times. Quoted here apropos of Paul Jacob’s June 5 article, “The Nerve of Some People.”

The Epoch Times based its reporting on tips from “netiziens” (which is a not-so-common term for “citizens of the Internet”) who told the paper of “not only explicit references to the 1989 massacre, but also indirect expressions, numbers, images, and even routine daily posts appeared to be caught in automated filters or subject to account restrictions. Some described the moderation as unusually strict; one user said the surveillance felt “‘almost frenzied.’”

This shows how important public opinion is for even a tyrannical government. It’s not that the government aims to follow public opinion, but that the communists suppress public discussion to tamp down on opinions that might destabilize citizen acquiescence to the regime. “More than three decades after the Tiananmen Square protests,” the report concludes, “in which the communist regime deployed troops to massacre thousands of pro-democracy protesters, discussion of the event remains heavily restricted within China’s online ecosystem.”

On Thursday, Paul Jacob discussed a report claiming that there has bern an increase in “food insecurity” in the United States. He identified a few ways in which government could help by “helping”less.

He also mentioned that a sizable minority of states are putting a number of restrictions in place on those who can receive benefits and on what foods can be paid for on the SNAP system.

Here are a few sources of information on these new restrictions:

“Louisiana SNAP recipients face new geographic restrictions as of Tuesday, May 26th,” by Nathan Rizutti — “Starting May 26, 2026, EBT cardholders will be limited to in-state purchases. This change helps prevent and protect against EBT theft while keeping SNAP, FITAP, and KCSP benefits in-state.”

“Missouri plans food benefit restrictions, but grocers say details remain unclear,” by Steph Quinn — “The changes, planned for Oct. 1, would prohibit purchases of candy, prepared desserts and sugary drinks through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Next summer, the same restrictions will also apply to SuN Bucks, the summer food program serving hundreds of thousands of Missouri children.”

“SNAP Benefits 2026: When EBT Cards Reload in Every State,” by Caitlyn Moorehead — “If you collect these benefits in 2026, you may have started to feel the changes to the SNAP program and varying new restrictions. However, payment scheduling should remain relatively the same regarding the process for the cash benefits to be deposited on the same day each month, based on factors such as your Social Security number, last name, case number or EBT account number.”

“SNAP benefits 2026: New maximum payments and monthly increase details,” by Stefan Brand — “The USDA adjusts SNAP maximum allotments, deductions, and income eligibility standards at the beginning of each federal fiscal year, which begins on October 1st, with changes based on shifts in the cost of living. The Thrifty Food Plan, commonly known as the TFP, calculates the cost of a market basket for a family of four and serves as the USDA’s estimate of how much it costs to provide nutritious, low-cost meals for a household.”

“SNAP FOOD RESTRICTION WAIVERS WILL REACH 7.5M HOUSEHOLDS BY END OF 2026, NUMERATOR REPORTS” — “Food Restriction Waivers (FRWs) will structurally change the program. By the end of 2026, 19 states will have waivers in place, affecting roughly one-third of SNAP participants. These policies directly restrict the use of SNAP benefits for categories such as soda, candy, and energy drinks —categories that were already more likely to be embedded in SNAP baskets.”

It should be remembered that restricting the food covered by “food stamps”

1. Helps recipients avoid unhealthy and non-nutritious food and drink, thereby allowing those who have hope of becoming productive actually become productive rather than dooming them to lives of useless indolence;
2. By disincentivizing unhealthy eating, this saves on subsidized health care, too, allowing for thriftier use of state aid overall, thereby stressing the taxpayer burden less;
3. Reminds recipients that what they receive is not the result of any right they have — which would imply allowing even whimsical and self-harmful behavior — but, instead, the result of taking from others and giving to recipients, at no small cost to those others.

This last point is worth considering at length. It has been charged that restrictions on the scope of no-priced food distribution is “paternalistic.” Sure, but prodigal spending on the poor is already paternalistic — one might say “maternalistic,” but that implies that mothers are indiscriminate distributors of benefits to their charges, and only men see the point of restricted, responsibility-free subsidies. But that is not true.

In the midst of a slow-drip UFO disclosure, the White House launched the website aliens dot gov this week.

We did not learn anything about extra-terrestrial pilots or inter-dimensionals or C.S. Lewis’s “macrobes.”

The site is about illegal aliens!

For 60 years, the U.S. government has kept a closely guarded secret.

Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives.

They’ve shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences.

With one exception — they do not belong here.

Millions arrived under the cover of darkness and embedded themselves directly into our society.

Countless presidents, congressmen, and senior officials knew exactly what was happening.

Instead of protecting American citizens, they chose to cover it up and even accelerate the invasion.

Until one man finally had the courage to tell the truth.

Bold. Unapologetic. Unafraid.

President Trump was the first to call out the real danger Aliens pose to every American family, every community, and the future of our nation.

It’s green san serif letters against a star-spangled black background.

Trolling? Funny? Something else?