Geopolitics
Following multiple rounds of direct talks between Iran and Oman regarding managing the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump issued a warning: “Oman will behave like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up.” Trump stated, which was later reiterated in an official tweet by the State Department, that the Strait is considered international waters and that “nobody’s going to control it.” However, critics of this statement pointed out that the Strait of Hormuz’s narrowest point lies entirely within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.
US Politics
Vice President JD Vance stated that a fraud task force identified more than $28 billion in fraud in two months, including $22 billion in small-business loans, $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments, $6.3 billion in government contracts, and $60 million in student aid. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said welfare fraud totals in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Critics have questioned the scale and motives behind the fraud initiative.
Speaking of fraud, an investigation by the Muckraker Foundation reported that some residents of Lawrence, Massachusetts, obtain groceries with EBT cards and food pantries, pack them into barrels, and ship them to the Dominican Republic. A delivery driver and a home-visit worker stated that roughly half the recipients they encounter participate. Bodegas in Santo Domingo told undercover reporters that some inventory originates from EBT purchases and New York churches. SNAP served nearly 42 million people at a cost exceeding $100 billion in 2025. Some observers have described claims of widespread SNAP fraud as an old Republican trope that has been refuted by program regulations.
In other news, a Delaware Superior Court judge ruled that corporations, partnerships, trusts, and LLCs may vote in certain municipal elections. The court cited Delaware Code provisions that recognize artificial entities as persons. The ACLU had argued that entity voting dilutes the power of natural persons. Critics have argued that the ruling undermines democracy by granting votes to entities lacking direct community ties.
Lastly, critics of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have noted bipartisan support for saving the agency responsible for censoring online content. Representatives Don Bacon and James Walkinshaw opposed cuts to CISA, with Bacon describing the would-be reductions as harmful despite earlier criticism of the agency. On the flip side, Senator Rand Paul has called for eliminating CISA. Senate appropriators rejected the administration’s proposed cuts for 2026.
Health
MD Reports reported an internal FDA review of roughly 96 pediatric VAERS death reports after COVID-19 vaccination. Sources said about 25 cases received high-level discussion. A November 2025 memo from Dr. Vinay Prasad stated that at least 10 children died after receiving the vaccine. A subsequent WHO-framework review classified two deaths as probable and five as possible. Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg’s proposed black-box warning was rejected, and she was dismissed after declining to resign. Senator Ron Johnson cited a potential cover-up. A separate analysis found zero deaths classified as certain, two as probable, and five as possible out of the reports, supporting targeted labeling updates rather than evidence of concealment.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Tucker wrote in The Epoch Times that despite a recent flurry of pandemic warnings about pathogens like bird flu, norovirus, mpox, hantavirus, and Ebola, basic epidemiological principles suggest far less cause for alarm than the headlines imply. He outlined three key ideas: mild exposure often builds lasting immunity, severity and prevalence tend to be inversely related for most pathogens, and biological trade-offs involving latency make the nightmare scenario of a highly severe, highly contagious, fast-mutating, and long-latency pathogen extremely unlikely. Tucker argued that humanity has co-evolved with microbes and that such media frenzies overlook longstanding public health knowledge.
Lastly, a consumer post on X noted that USDA regulation 9 CFR 319.15 requires “ground beef patties” to contain no fillers, while “beef patties” may include textured vegetable protein, organ meat, and added water.
Artificial Intelligence
North Korean state media reported that the country tested its first AI-guided cruise missiles. Kim Jong-un described the test as an upgrade to military capabilities. The missiles have a reported 100 km range and use AI for terminal guidance. Analysts at the Asan Institute and Korea Institute for National Unification said the system likely incorporates automatic target recognition, though its sophistication could not be verified. North Korea has positioned the upgrades as a measure to guarantee sovereignty and deter aggression.
Meanwhile, President Trump appointed Pam Bondi to the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. She will coordinate between government and technology executives and advise on national infrastructure. Critics have questioned her suitability for the advisory role.
Privacy & Surveillance
An investigation found that TrumpRx.gov was designed by the National Design Studio, created by executive order in August 2025, and headed by Joe Gebbia. The studio operates under Section 3161, which exempts salary disclosures. PostHog analytics on the site recorded sessions without stripping IP addresses, and ndstudio.gov contained 540 lines of custom monitoring code. Certificate logs showed about forty unannounced subdomains registered to the Executive Office of the President. No Privacy Impact Assessments or System of Records Notices have been filed for twelve related programs, raising concerns that these newly-designed government websites may be collecting excessive personal user data, and in a coordinated fashion, without proper privacy safeguards.
Meanwhile, attorney Steve Lehto warned that Pirelli’s Cyber Tire system transmits road and driving data to vehicles and the cloud. Pirelli acquired a 30 percent stake in Univrses for computer-vision integration. Lehto cited prior data breaches at other firms when questioning security assurances. The company has described the technology as a step forward that enhances safety through real-time monitoring of road conditions.
Sources
Food Stamp Fraud Pipeline: EBT-Funded Groceries Shipped to Dominican Republic for Profit
What we found is that, in some communities, that food never reaches an American table. Instead, it gets shipped overseas and sold for profit.
Source | Submitted by pinecarr
The One-Word Loophole Letting Fillers Into Beef Patties
“Ground beef patties” — zero fillers, by law. “Beef patties” — drop one word, suddenly TVP, organ meat, and added water are all legal.
Source | Submitted by IrishPrince
Viruses For Dummies: Why Pandemics Can’t Last
This is why every pandemic burns itself out.
Source | Submitted by PhilH
FDA’s Secret Review of Child Covid Vaccine Deaths Sparks Cover-Up Claims
It really did feel like there was some sort of cover-up going on about the Covid-19 vaccines.
Source | Submitted by PhilH
White House Built Secret Second Vote.gov on Hidden Infrastructure
The National Design Studio had built pre-launch versions of websites belonging to other federal agencies and registered all of it to the White House.
Source | Submitted by westcoastjan
Delaware Judge: Corporations Can Vote in Local Elections
Corporations, partnerships, trusts, limited liability companies, and other “artificial entities” have the right to vote in Delaware elections under some circumstances, a judge said in a novel ruling Tuesday.
Source | Submitted by jason mccracken
North Korea Tests First AI-Guided Missiles in Kim-Led Exercise
Pyongyang has never before acknowledged using AI in its missile systems, which Monday’s successful test marks a milestone.
JD Vance Flags $28B in Fraud, Miller Says It Could Balance Budget
I believe based on what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard is that we could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that went out of the Treasury went to individuals who are properly, lawfully, correctly eligible to receive them,
Pirelli’s Cyber Tires: Your Wheels Are Now Uploading Data to the Cloud
Cyber tire, gathers data and sends it to your car, and the cloud.
Bipartisan Push Revives CISA Despite Its Censorship Record
Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in a bipartisan effort to keep the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), an agency involved in pushing online censorship, alive.
Trump Taps Ousted AG Bondi for White House AI Advisory Role
President Trump has appointed former Attorney General Pam Bondi to an advisory committee focused on AI policy, Axios has learned.
Trump Threatens Oman
Oman will behave like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up.
Rubio’s Hormuz Lie: Strait’s Narrowest Point Is All Territorial Waters
The Strait of Hormuz, at its most narrow point, consists entirely of territorial waters, not international waters.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: CIDRAP op-ed by Jake Scott, MD, @madlaine63, @WeDemandJustice, @RealJoeBonanno, @DailyCaller, @tlcevans1, @RealAlexJones, @one3dsoul, KCNA, @yakno220, @JCarlosFox, @HealthRanger, IANS.
by rodster 
