Owed in part to the pandemic-induced increased shift from offline to online, cyber attacks have become a lucrative avenue for criminals in recent years. 

As Florian Zandt reports, Statista experts estimate global losses of $7.1 trillion in 2022 compared to 2019's $1.2 trillion, with crypto exchange and protocol hacks by prolific groups like the state-affiliated North Korean hacking team Lazarus dramatically increasing in the years 2021 and 2022 according to Chainalysis. While the number of hacks and the damage caused has been on a constant uptick, the types of cyber attacks have shifted dramatically in the past five years.

In 2017, roughly 42 percent of recorded cyber crimes were connected to non-payment or non-delivery.

This category includes purchases made via fraudulent online stores that never materialize and promised payments never arriving.

Personal data breaches and phishing scams constituted an additional 28 percent, while identity theft, credit card fraud and other cyber attacks had a relatively low share in all reported cyber crimes.

Five years later, phishing has become the most prevalent cyber attack. This past year, more than half of criminal online activity was connected to this long-running type of cyber crime.

In his speech before the UN General Assembly on Saturday which broadly presented Moscow's viewpoint on the state of global affairs, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov frequently lambasted the West while actually mentioning Ukraine very little. 

These are familiar themes, sounded by Putin himself on many occasions recently, seen in the following statement of Lavrov's: "The US and its subordinate Western collective are continuing to fuel conflicts which artificially divide humanity into hostile blocks and hamper the achievement of overall aims," he said. "They’re doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multipolar world order."

Last month in the middle of the surreal “Bidenomics” hype I published an article titled ‘Nothing Is Over: Inflation Is About To Come Back With A Vengeance.’  I outlined the misconceptions surrounding CPI and how it is not an accurate model for the effects of inflation.  I also noted that the index had been manipulated downwards by Joe Biden as he flooded the market with oil from the strategic reserves.  Because so many elements of the CPI are connected to energy, Biden had created an artificial drop in CPI using this strategy.

I argued that as the strategic reserves ran out and Biden lost his leverage, CPI would rise again and prices on a number of necessities would climb.  This is happening now, with the biggest jump in CPI in 14 months and gas prices clawing back towards all-time highs.

Inflation is not going away anytime soon, but the bigger issue at hand is who benefits most from inflation and rising prices? The answer might be obvious to some but many people are oblivious to the root cause of inflationary dysfunction and often see it as a consequence of random economic chaos rather than a product of clever engineering. The truth is, banking oligarchs and political authorities revel in the inflationary tidal wave because it is a perfect opportunity to institute far reaching socialist controls over resources.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is continuing to hold back information about its efforts to police online speech in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The Americans For Prosperity (AFP) Foundation, a political advocacy group, has spent years attempting to get the DHS to hand over records on its efforts to censor “misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.” However, the DHS has responded by heavily redacting any records it turns over to the group.

The DHS is citing FOIA Exemption 7(E), which protects “techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions,” to justify the redactions.

Kevin Schmidt, the Director of Investigations at AFP, blasted the DHS for obfuscating the contents of the documents.

“If DHS believes it has the authority to police people’s online speech, it should be open with the public about what those authorities are,” he said.

He added that the DHS’s use of FOIA Exemption 7(E) “suggests the DHS is either overstating its authorities or it’s abusing FOIA exemptions to avoid transparency.”

Democrats are probably even more furious with Elon Musk's huge success with SpaceX-owned space internet company Starlink now boasting over 2 million active users worldwide. 

"Starlink is available on all 7 continents, in over 60 countries and many more markets, connecting 2M+ active customers and counting with high-speed internet!" Starlink posted on X. 

Fresh revelations regarding a $2.5 million contractual agreement between the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) at Fort George G. Meade and social media scrutinizer Dataminr have emerged. These claims, unveiled by a US government notice, imply a new era of digital monitoring rests on the horizon, increasingly unsettling in its reinforcement of sweeping surveillance, and potentially having implications on free speech and privacy protection.

Fort Meade, also known as the steering wheel of the US Government’s paramount signals intelligence organization, the National Security Agency, has seemingly struck a discreet deal to expand its espionage services.

 China is accelerating its military capabilities to invade Taiwan and possibly wage war against the United States in the South China Sea, but its intentions and timeline remain vague, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

 The Washington Post cast doubt on its own poll with ABC that showed former President Trump up by 10 points over his likely rival President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential contest.

The White House is close to deciding it will provide Ukraine with a cluster-armed version of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a range of nearly 200 miles and can be fired from HIMARS launchers, according to the Washington Post. The HIMARS in Kyiv’s possession are currently firing munitions with a range of 50 miles. The US arming Ukrainian forces with ATACMS would mark a significant escalation in the proxy war with Russia and cross Moscow’s “red line.”

Sending ATACMS was ruled out until recently over concerns that the weapons could be used by Kyiv for attacks inside Crimea and the Russian mainland. However, for months, as Kyiv has launched more attacks against Russian territory and previous US concerns of escalation waned, there have been reports saying that the White House was increasingly considering sending the ATACMS to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, during an appearance on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ Secretary of State Blinken was asked if he approved of Ukraine using the US-provided ATACMS to carry out strikes deep inside Russian territory. “In terms of their targeting decisions, it’s their decision, not ours,” Blinken stated emphatically.

Webmaster addition: I wish they felt that same way about criminals instead of blaming gun  manufacturers!

 Average Americans are finding homes and cars increasingly unaffordable as inflation from high government spending raises prices and degrades purchasing power.

CNN political commentator Errol Louis immediately backtracked Monday after host Poppy Harlow called him out for his claim about inflation.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is refusing to release the latest data related to heart failure recorded in patients who had recently received Covid vaccinations.

The federal health agency has not updated information on reported cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination.

Myocarditis and pericarditis are conditions related to inflation in the heart.

While pericarditis can be uncomfortable, myocarditis can be potentially fatal.

Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle (myocardium) that reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood.

It can cause blood clots, strokes, or heart failure, and possibly lead to death.

Both myocarditis and pericarditis are known side effects of Covid mRNA shots.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached a tentative deal with film and television studios to end the almost five-month strike.

On Sunday, union officials emailed WGA members letting them know that a tentative three-year agreement was reached by both sides.

“WGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP,” the guild said in a statement. “This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days.”

 The Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on Friday informing the committee it will allow key officials involved in the Hunter Biden investigation to testify about the case.

 Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has hired Hunter Biden’s lawyer to defend him from the bribery charges leveled by federal prosecutors on Friday.

In 2020, Joe Biden relied on the endorsement of numerous groups to secure his election. For years, Democrats have depended on certain sectors for their unwavering support. But Biden is presiding over crippling inflation and other problems that have hurt Americans. Two major groups are striking, leading to further uncertainty about Biden’s economic agenda.

Biden needs the support of numerous unions, minority groups, and organizations if he hopes to win the 2024 Election. But reoccurring problems could put a dent in this unified bloc. Just this week, a major group is breaking from the Democrat fold. And they are throwing their weight behind the GOP frontrunner.

From Trending Politics:
The leading union for workers in fossil fuels lent its endorsement to former President Donald Trump this week…

The Oil and Gas Workers Association, which is comprised of 50,000 members who work in domestic drilling, announced that it will be supporting President Trump…

Apple has released emergency security patches for its core products just days after rolling out brand new versions of their operating systems. On Thursday, the company updated iOS/iPadOS 17 and WatchOS 10 with fixes aimed at patching several zero-day vulnerabilities that could leave a device open to a particular form of spyware.

iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch owners are urged to update their devices with this latest round of security fixes. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, select General, tap Software Updates, and then tap the Update Now button. For an Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your phone. At the My Watch tab, head to General, select Software Update, and install the latest update.

Lego has ditched plans to use recycled plastic bottles to make its beloved building blocks after its efforts toward sustainability did not reduce the company’s overall CO2 emissions.

Two years after Lego unveiled a prototype made from recycled PET plastic — a supposed improvement from the oil-based plastic the company’s bricks have historically been made from — Lego said it won’t be moving forward in making the new building blocks.

“We have decided not to progress making bricks from recycled PET after more than two years of testing as we found the material didn’t reduce carbon emissions,” a company spokesperson told The Post.

About 80% of the 60 billion-plus of Lego pieces made each year contain ABS, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, a petroleum-based plastic that’s commonly used in computer keyboards and in car interiors.

An FBI supervisor has corroborated key aspects of two IRS whistleblowers’ testimony alleging that federal prosecutors slow-walked Hunter Biden’s criminal probe and declined last year to bring tax charges in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., according to an interview transcript reviewed by Just the News.

The female FBI supervisor, whose name the Justice Department asked be kept private in the transcript, was interviewed recently by the House Judiciary Committee, and she chronicled her interactions with IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler and Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden probe.

While the agent said she had different recollections than her IRS colleagues about certain aspects of the case and did not believe politics caused any delays, she confirmed there were instances in which prosecutors slowed the investigation.

Specifically, she confirmed agents were concerned that the DOJ tried to use the 2022 midterm elections to delay action in the Hunter Biden case even though his father was not up for election last year.

“I know that that had come up,” said the FBI agent, who worked in the Baltimore office that supervised cases in Delaware.

“Delays related to the election?” she was asked. 

“Yes, I noted that had come up” the agent answered.

The FBI generally has a rule that public actions not be taken in cases in the weeks before an election that could impact the outcome of the election, a rule that was not followed in 2016 when the bureau opened the Russia collusion probe against Donald Trump a few weeks before Election Day.

 A Nebraska professor was handed over $200,000 from the National Institute of Health (NIH) in June for a program to connect LGBTQ youth with LGBTQ adults for “mentoring,” according to the grant.

 A Massachusetts DoorDash driver followed his GPS navigation system into a wooded area and then into a body of water Friday morning, police say.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law requiring all schools in the state to provide gender-neutral bathrooms.

The new legislation, signed on Saturday, expands a state law that schools allow students to use bathrooms that align with their “gender identity.”

“The bill, which explicitly requires an additional gender-neutral option, was inspired by an attempt by Chino Valley Unified to restrict transgender students’ access to certain bathrooms and sports facilities,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The law is part of a package of bills aiming to protect LGBTQ+ youths and comes amid proliferating culture wars in districts with conservative-controlled school boards, whose focus has become ‘parental rights’ and student gender identity.”

The 2021 Chino Valley district resolution, which would have required students to use the bathroom matching their biological sex, did not pass after State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond warned them that it was “unlawful.”

Still, the unsuccessful attempt to protect the privacy of female students inspired the law that Newsom signed over the weekend.

 MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough had a meltdown Monday while discussing a new poll showing former President Donald Trump with a double digit lead over President Joe Biden.

 Police officers in Oakland, California, have reported more than 10,000 motor vehicle thefts in the city since the start of 2023, data from the Oakland Police Department (OPD) shows.

 Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo said Monday her “thinking is evolving” after she clashed with Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz over government funding.

 While President Joe Biden has often pointed to the persistently low unemployment rate to prove the viability of his economic policies, the metric may actually be an indicator of future economic turmoil as workers age out of the labor force, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The US has given Ukraine close to $100 billion in aid since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022 - and the money has not only been used to fund its military.

Billions of dollars has also been used to pay for Ukraine's first responders, subsidize its farmers and help small businesses, from baking firms to fashion brands.

A recent analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations shows that more than $30 billion - around 40 percent of US aid to Ukraine - has been financial or humanitarian support that is not directly linked to military costs. Military funding totals around $50 billion.

President Joe Biden is also asking Congress to approve a further $24 billion in support for Ukraine, despite growing disquiet among some Republicans about the rising cost to US taxpayers. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said international support is crucial to help defeat Russia.

Webmaster addition: As the US government prepares to shut down!

A noted Donald Trump critic has ripped apart a new survey that stated the former president is 10 points ahead of Joe Biden.

Democratic pollster Larry Sabato called the findings from the Washington Post 'a ridiculous outlier' after it stated the 80-year-old president's approval rating stands at 37 percent.

Sabato, who is a professor at the University of Virginia, asked: 'How could you even publish a poll so absurd on its face?' 

The findings showed that Biden's rating is five percentage points lower than it was in February, and crucially, it is 10 points lower than his fierce 2020 Republican competitor, Donald Trump.

Sabato wrote on X: 'Ignore the Washington Post - ABC poll. It's a ridiculous outlier (Trump up 10 over Biden—laughable). My question: How could you even publish a poll so absurd on its face? Will be a lingering embarrassment for you.'

Webmaster addition: If you're going to rig an election, you have to rig the polls as well!

America is facing record-breaking numbers of migrants from Latin America, Africa and beyond crossing the US/Mexico border by foot and by train creating an unenviable political task for Joe Biden as he heads into election season as all sides of the political spectrum call for action. 

Donald Trump has called it in an 'invasion' and promised military action if he is reelected and other Republican frontrunners, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have promised to send in troops to deal with Mexico's drug cartels while Biden's administration continues to scramble for solutions.

In addition to those calls for military action, there already thosands of national guardsmen at the border suppording border patrol agents. 

In the small border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, the city's Democratic mayor has declared a state of emergency where last week it's thought that 100,000 people waded through the Rio Grande, the river that flows between Mexico and the US, and into the town. 

A police officer in Eagle Pass told DailyMail.com: 'We have a crisis. I don't care what the federal government says.'