Education
A joint report from the House Select Committee on China and the House Education and the Workforce Committee states that Harvard received more than $630 million from Chinese sources, the highest amount among US universities, and created Harvard Global to avoid federal foreign-donation disclosure rules. The committees identified 140 publications co-authored with researchers at Chinese universities, including one tied to the People’s Liberation Army, and cited a 2023 magnetic-materials paper co-authored with China’s National University of Defense Technology, which is on the US entity list. The DoW is investigating whether Harvard accepted China-based funds that required preferences for foreign students, potentially violating Title VI. Harvard disputes the reports and states it follows federal guidelines.
Phoebe Gates, the daughter of Bill Gates, attended a secretive, off-the-books Stanford course called “So You Think You Can Rule the World?” that was never publicized and required a referral from another student. Taught by Silicon Valley investor Justin Lewis-Weber to a group of just 12 students meeting weekly, the class focused on teaching participants how to hack power structures and identify vulnerabilities or loopholes in bureaucratic systems, with little concern for ethics. According to the Stanford Daily, Gates used the course to recruit for her shopping startup Phia.
In Texas, over 30 students from Kingwood and Atascocita High Schools in Humble Independent School District were transported during the school day to the Centro Islamico in Houston, operated by Islam In Spanish, for a tour, halal lunch, observation of midday prayer, and a presentation. A Council on American-Islamic Relations Houston representative spoke to students about their rights as Muslim students and allies. The Islamic centers have framed such visits as educational outreach to counter stereotypes and showcase community diversity.
In the UK, more than 100 children attended a four-day residential program run by Palestinian Youth Movement Britain at a Youth Hostel Association centre in the Peak District in late May. Footage posted by the organizers shows attendees participating in Arabic chants including “We will crush Zionism” and “our country is an Arab country,” along with sessions on Ghassan Kanafani, the late spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group designated as terrorist by the US and EU. A follow-up football tournament in North Kensington featured children wearing shirts numbered 7 and 10, which some interpreted as references to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. The Youth Hostel Association has opened an investigation, stating the booking was private and the group’s views do not represent its own. Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to the Charity Commission. Some posts have emphasized longstanding Arab self-identification in the region as context for related discussions.
Artificial Intelligence
In an opinion piece, Matthew G. Andersson argues that AI judges could outperform human courts. He contends that trial courts ignore facts, appellate courts affirm rulings to protect colleagues, and precedent compounds errors. He cites Judge Frank Easterbrook’s Klaassen decision as an example of precedent used to avoid substantive reasoning. Andersson suggests AI lacks institutional incentives to protect colleagues and could analyze data more rapidly. Some commentators have warned that AI judges would remove assessments of facial expressions, human emotion, and remorse from proceedings.
Energy
Wood Mackenzie projects that more than two-thirds of the electricity requested for US data center projects, totaling about 1,066 gigawatts, will not materialize, with only roughly 28% likely to secure commitments. Developers are submitting the same projects to multiple utilities, creating overlapping applications that distort forecasts. On the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland grid, Rystad estimates about half of applications are credible. On the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the figure is 14%. Bernstein estimates credible builds at about 33% of pipeline capacity. Governor Abbott’s August 3 audit order affected roughly $13 billion in Texas data-center revenue. Meanwhile, China is building 37 nuclear reactors.
Geopolitics
Ukraine struck the Progress Rocket and Space Center in Samara using FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles. The facility manufactures Soyuz launch vehicles used for military reconnaissance and communications satellites. Zelensky described Roscosmos as a key enterprise tied to military electronics. Other targets included Savasleyka air base and an oil facility at Ust-Luga. Russia launched over 150 drones overnight, of which Ukraine claimed to intercept 124.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Zelensky’s 40-day pressure campaign was ineffective and that Russia would intensify its military campaign, targeting assets that enable Western support for Ukraine. Lavrov said Moscow has submitted questions to the State Department regarding US intelligence support for strikes on Russian territory. The remarks follow Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries and Crimean fuel supplies, and Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and western Ukraine. US intelligence and weapons flows to Ukraine have continued.
Economy
JPMorgan’s global economics team states that the next global food crisis may be forming, driven by war, weather, warehousing, water, and waste. Senior economist Nora Szentivanyi projects global food inflation to rise from 2.8% in H1 2026 to 5% in H1 2027. Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz could affect fertilizer supplies, while a potential El Niño could increase inflation impacts. Emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia, West Africa, and Latin America face exposure through rice, sugar, coffee, and cocoa. China has stockpiled food and fertilizer. Some commentary has highlighted India’s need to boost buffer stocks and strengthen food security measures ahead of potential risks.
Privacy & Surveillance
An investigation by Effort identifies five organizations, four of which are British, that are driving age-verification and digital-ID legislation across 21 US states and in Congress. Among them is the Age Verification Providers Association, whose members sell the technology such mandates require. 5Rights Foundation has engaged on 42 bills across 18 states and paid Capitol Connection $50,000 to lobby Sacramento. The Center for Countering Digital Hate supported the UK’s Online Safety Act. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue has received over $17 million from the State Department, EU, and UK ministries. Reset Tech Action has spent $1.35 million lobbying US legislatures since 2024. Opposing perspectives emphasize child protection needs, with age verification discussed as a practical tool despite implementation challenges.
US Politics
Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran told “The Fifth Column” podcast that a Nightline report on the COVID lab-leak theory was altered after review, with added caveats. Moran said the edits came from lawyers, standards editors, and Anthony Fauci. He described pressure on scientists, linked to EcoHealth Alliance’s Peter Daszak, to reject the lab-leak hypothesis. Newly released Fauci journal entries reportedly show he privately acknowledged colleagues open to the lab-leak theory while publicly promoting a zoonotic origin.
Health
Maine’s CDC has joined 29 other jurisdictions declining to adopt the Trump administration’s new childhood vaccine schedule, issued by executive order. The order recommends 12 vaccines, separates the MMR into three shots, and limits RSV and hepatitis vaccines to high-risk groups. Governor Janet Mills said Maine will follow American Academy of Pediatrics guidance. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to release findings on environmental causes of autism. Supporters of the federal changes have pointed to historical differences in vaccine exposure, noting that children decades ago received far fewer shots yet saw low disease rates.
Sources
UK Youth Camp: Kids Chant “Our Country Is an Arab Country,” Vow to Crush Zionism
We will crush Zionism.
Texas Schools Bus Teens to Mosque for Islamic Immersion as Sharia Concerns Mount
Public schools exist to educate American children in the foundations of this country, not to deliver them as a captive audience for any foreign ideology’s outreach.
Harvard’s $630M China Funding Exposed as Bid to Dodge Disclosure Rules
Harvard created an entity in a blatant attempt to get around federal foreign funding disclosure laws.
Russia to Hit Western Backers Fueling Ukraine War, Lavrov Says
Russia will intensify its military campaign in Ukraine and seek to destroy every element used by the West to sustain Kiev’s war effort
AI’s “Bragawatts” Mirage: Two-Thirds of Data Center Power Requests Won’t Happen
More than two-thirds of the electricity sought for the artificial intelligence boom in the US isn’t likely to materialize due to “phantom” projects and long-shot pitches.
British Lobbyists Export Age Verification Mandates to 21 US States
Twenty-one states is not twenty-one separate local demands. It is one small, portable lobby, arriving with a law it already wrote once, and one of its members invoices for the remedy.
Phoebe Gates Recruited From Secret Stanford “Rule the World” Course Amid Phia Cookie-Stuffing Scandal
Gates used the class to recruit for Phia.
Source | Submitted by thecountmc
Can AI Judges Outsmart a Corrupt Legal System?
Partisan judges can rule based on political party allegiance, and sometimes without recognizing it. That’s how the human mind works. AI doesn’t.
JPMorgan Flags Next Global Food Crisis Erupting in 2027
This is not a short-lived shock; it has reduced the likelihood of near-term disinflation, and the food inflation cycle is likely to exert pressure through 1H27.
Ukraine Strikes Russian Space Center With Flamingo Missiles
Ukraine has struck a facility used in the production of Russia’s new satellite internet system.
Fauci’s Edits Buried ABC’s Lab Leak Report, Ex-Reporter Claims
And the day that it’s supposed to air it gets reviewed. And it comes back to me and it is incomprehensible. And I’ve never been angrier.
Maine CDC Joins 29 Others in Defying Trump’s Slimmed-Down Vaccine Schedule
Maine’s CDC has become the latest state to refuse to follow the Trump administration’s new guidelines on childhood vaccines, after President Trump signed a new Executive Order on Monday.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: Commentary, Islamic centers’ promotional statements, Grok, DW News, choblin29, CTV News, CityNews Toronto, Kristen Cyron, aravind, WesternLensman, and YoungDeplorable.
by westcoastjan 
