When companies collude to prevent competition, it undermines the freedom and fairness of our markets. When that collusion also prevents the spread of ideas they don’t like, it undermines our basic rights as citizens to speak and be heard. Today, the FTC took monumental steps to promote economic competition and stop collusive censorship.

With our valued state partners, we have filed a consent decree against three of America’s largest advertising agencies. We alleged that these companies engaged in coordinated anticompetitive conduct to deprive advertising revenue to certain websites on the spurious grounds of agreed-upon “misinformation” standards. Now, with the FTC’s previous settlement with Omnicom, the FTC has decrees with advertising agencies that control half the online ad marketplace that require all of them to stop this anticompetitive conduct, and imposes a rigorous monitoring system to prevent it from occurring again.

ftc.gov/news-events/ne…

Every one of our nation’s marketplaces ought to be open to competition, and the marketplace of ideas is no exception. Today’s settlement is a major victory for those who believe in a free economy, and the free exchange of ideas.

Don’t PAY APPLE for extra iCloud storage.

I fixed it in 10 minutes
I freed up 12GB without paying a dollar.

Use these 8 simple steps:

1. Find the Real Storage Hogs

"Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage and check what's using the most space across Photos, Backups, Mail, and Apps."

2. Delete Old iPhone Backups

"In Manage Storage > Backups, delete old device backups from phones you no longer use. Keep only your current device."

1/ In this third part of his exposé of how organised crime has taken over the Russian army in Ukraine, Russian journalist Sergey Komkov highlights how Russian commanders are now "jumping to the tune of robbers and murderers." ⬇️

2/ Part 1 of his account is here:

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2044113408060997830

3/ Part 2 is here:

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2044317439748399354

🌊 THE DEEP-SEA SPYING: China’s Plan to Rule the Ocean Floor.

1/10
While the world looks to the sky, Beijing is mapping the seabed across the Pacific, Indian, and Arctic oceans—less about science, more about shaping the future of naval warfare. 🧵👇

2/10
The Targets: Chinese research vessels like the Dong Fang Hong 3 are stalking the waters near Taiwan, Guam, Japan, and the Malacca Strait. These aren't random spots; they are the world’s most critical military chokepoints and US defense hubs. #NationalSecurity

3/10
The Data Goldmine: They aren't just looking for fish. They are gathering "Dual-Use" data:
📍 Seabed terrain (for submarine hiding spots)
🌡️ Water temperature & salinity (to manipulate sonar)
🔊 Acoustic signatures (to track "stealth" US subs)

An attempt to make some order out of the contradictory reports on a Lebanon ceasefire going into effect tonight:🧵

1-A ceasefire in Lebanon was Iran's idea. That being a tough pill to swallow doesn't make it any less factual. Look at the sequence of events:

03/09/26 : President Joseph Aoun calls for direct negotiations with Israel to achieve a full truce -- misreported as "peace" --; an end to Israeli land/air/sea attacks on Lebanon; urgent support for the Lebanese armed forces; Lebanese forces taking control of the recent tension areas and seizing weapons, including Hezbollah weapons and stores; then direct talks to implement those steps. presidency.gov.lb/posts/alreys-a…

03/09/26 -- Israel responds with disinterest, says Lebanon's initiative was "too late" and Jerusalem was "focused on eliminating Hezbollah." The Israelis also made clear at various points their objectives were: this war being part of a process leading to Hezbollah's demise, and the occupation of parts of south Lebanon for varying, but indefinite, periods of time. mako.co.il/news-military/…

03/06/26 -- Washington also shows disinterest. @USAMBTurkiye is quoted in Axios saying: Stop with the bullsh*t” on disarming Hezbollah, or there was nothing to discuss; “If it’s not real action about Hezbollah’s weapons, there’s no point.” axios.com/2026/03/09/leb…

Nothing changes on the Lebanese domestic scene in the intervening period:
1) Hezbollah did not relent from fighting, and in fact became more defiant, even threatening to force Beirut to rescind its March 2, 2026 decision proscribing Hezbollah's military activities,
2) The Lebanese State has not undertaken a single action to concretely curtail Hezbollah's activities,
3) LAF refuses to implement the March 2 order x.com/LebarmyOfficia…
4) Beirut couldn't even successfully expel Iran's ambassador-designate because of pressure from Hezbollah/Amal, a failure for which the Israeli MFA's official account has been (unprofessionally, in my opinion) trolling Lebanon. As late as March 30: x.com/IsraelMFA/stat…
5) Lebanon is still afraid enough of Hezbollah being able to ignite a civil war that @nawafsalam had to cancel his Tuesday trip to Washington "in light of current domestic conditions: -- namely, growing sectarian friction and tension. x.com/nawafsalam/sta…

Then, suddenly, on April 9, Bibi pulls an about-face and says "In light of Lebanon's repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, [he] instructed...open[ing] direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible," while nodding to Nawaf Salam's call that day to demilitarize Beirut -- another unimplemented decision. embassies.gov.il/multilateral-o…

2-The Israeli/American disinterest stemmed from Lebanon demonstrating, rather conclusively, over fifteen months, its unwillingness -- more than any inability -- to engage in the confrontation or use the means necessary to disarm an intransigent Hezbollah.

The Israelis were therefore resistant to returning to a situation of Lebanese inaction that had allowed Hezbollah to regenerate, including south of the Litani River. As for the United States, it had effectively "washed its hands" of Lebanon months prior with Ambassador Barrack's frustration with Lebanese inaction.

But more importantly for the United States -- in sharp contrast to an Israeli-Iranian war -- it could allow the Israeli war effort in Lebanon to proceed without having to worry about ever having to militarily intervene. An American interest, Hezbollah's degradation, was being pursued by an ally at no direct cost to, or impact on, the United States.

The accused assailant is a British immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 2022, meaning he got his green card in 2017 or earlier.

The idea that Biden or his policies had anything to do with this is purely inflammatory political messaging divorced from any facts.

https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/2044444149009506733

From FY 2021 through FY 2024, roughly 3.5 million people became U.S. citizens through naturalization. The idea that Biden is somehow personally responsible if any of them later went on to commit crimes is beyond stupid; it's willfully ignorant and deliberately inflammatory.

Neither @nypost or @DHSgov has EVER blamed Trump for any crimes committed by an immigrant who entered the country or got status under Trump. Not once.

It's because they KNOW it's not a good faith argument.

🧵United States v. Cole

NEW Superseding Indictment against Brian J. Cole Jr. adds two additional counts:

-Attempt to Use Weapon of Mass Destruction
-Act of Terrorism While Armed

Cole was already charged with Transport of Explosives and Malicious Attempt to Use Explosives.

1/2

The new filing doesn't add any additional information.

2/3
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

The Nov 21 and Dec 16 indictments were also light on details. Simply stating what the charges were.

No speaking indictments in this case.

3/4

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Mortgage applications to buy a house fell again.

They're back down to an index level of 159, which is more than 50% below the pandemic peak in early 2021.

Not only that - they're now declining year-over-year, reversing a slight positive trend that began taking place in early 2025.

The figures are so bad that Mortgage Apps are now nearly 40% below pre-pandemic levels.

As a result, I wouldn't be surprised if April & May have the lowest sales figures we've ever seen for those months (excl the initial pandemic lockdowns).

Sellers must adapt and understand that if they don't cut the price now, their house will sit. For a long time.

To see the areas with the biggest price cuts, download Reventure and search your city: reventure.app/mobile

1) This Mortgage Application Purchase data, sourced from the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association), is a real-time indicator of buyer demand.

It updates every week, and suggests where closed sales could be heading in the next several months.

A slowdown today, along with continued weakness, suggests a rough spring selling season ahead.

2) I wouldn't be surprised if we say April and May existing sales did hit the lowest levels on record for those months, and the first half of 2026 to have the lowest levels ever for the first six months of the year.

This is simply where we're at now in the housing market.

Prices remain too high, sellers too stubborn, and buyers with the most inertia they've had in U.S. history.

Your smart TV is taking screenshots of your screen every 15 seconds.

Not a guess. Not a theory.

A peer-reviewed study by researchers at UC Davis, UCL, and UC3M tested it.

Samsung TVs: every minute.
LG TVs: every 15 seconds.

Even when you're just using it as a monitor.

Here's how to turn it off for every brand:

First, what's actually happening.

Your TV has a hidden feature called ACR- Automatic Content Recognition.

Think of it like Shazam, but for your screen.

It takes tiny snapshots of whatever you're watching. Sends a fingerprint to the company's servers. They match it to figure out exactly what's on your screen.

Every show. Every channel. Every game. Second by second.

This isn't speculation.

Researchers at UC Davis, University College London, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid tested Samsung and LG TVs.

Published in the 2024 ACM Internet Measurement Conference.

They captured all the network traffic leaving these TVs.

Samsung sent data to its ACR servers every minute.
LG sent data every 15 seconds.

Paper: "Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs"

1/ Wealthy Russians are reportedly being offered the chance to have an hour-long meeting with Elon Musk's father Errol for the generous price of 1.9 million rubles ($25,000). Interested parties are advised to book slots quickly, as he flies out of Moscow tomorrow. ⬇️

2/ Russian warblogger Alex Kartavykh has published an apparent Telegram conversation offering access to Errol Musk, who is said to be organising resettlement opportunities for Afrikaner farmers from South Africa.

3/ The elder Musk has been a fairly regular visitor to Moscow in recent years. He was pictured over the past weekend attending an Easter service in the presence of Vladimir Putin.

https://x.com/runews/status/2043612802699374727

1) Allow me to address and refine a pretty common approach to Trump among MAGA. There is a notion that every move he makes "here" is predetermined to "obscure" some other move he is making "over there." He is brilliant, but that's not how he set it up.

2) When we were in Hollywood looking to sell our film, I met numerous successful directors. One of the things they explained was that anyone who sees success in Hollywood has multiple projects all going at once--rolling rocks up a hill.

3) They expected that some rocks would get stuck, some would roll back down, but that sooner or later they'd get rocks over the top and the projects would roll.

4) That's the way to view Trump's policies now for over a year.

5) In 2017 he fired up the rock rolling machines.

DYSPAREUNIA (PAINFUL S€X)

LETS TALK ABOUT PAINFUL S€X WITHOUT SHAME BECAUSE S€X IS NOT MEANT TO HURT

IT IS MORE COMMON THAN YOU THINK.

When Pleasure Hurts: A Woman’s Body Is Speaking, and We Must Listen

There is a story many women carry quietly, and it begins in a bedroom and ends in silence. It is the story of pain where pleasure is expected, and of endurance where joy should live. Dyspareunia is the name medicine gives to painful sex, and yet the experience itself has existed long before we learned to label it. As a gynaecologist, I say this without apology and without whispering: sex is not meant to hurt, and when it does, the body is not being dramatic, it is being honest. According to the guidance of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists(RCOG), painful sex should never be dismissed, because pain is often a message, and messages deserve interpreters, and interpreters deserve time

Sometimes the pain waits at the doorway of the vagina, like a guard refusing entry, and sometimes it hides deep inside the pelvis, like a secret with sharp edges. Superficial pain may come from dryness, from infections, from conditions of the vulva, and from the quiet hormonal changes of menopause or breastfeeding, when oestrogen slips away like a lover who forgot to say goodbye. Deep pain, however, may whisper the names of heavier things: endometriosis, pelvic infections, fibroids, ovarian cysts, or adhesions, and these are not small matters, even when they are spoken of in small voices.