List of Missing/Dead Scientists Linked to American Secrets Grows

The ominous web of U.S. scientists and lab employees who have died or gone missing continues to grow as two more cases have been linked to the disturbing trend. 

NASA scientist Frank Maiwald died on July 4, 2024 in Los Angeles at the age of 61, but the cause of death has never been made public and officials confirmed that an autopsy was never performed.  Maiwald had been a prominent researcher at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) since 1999 and worked on multiple projects tied to advanced satellite technology that could scan Earth and other planets.

In June 2023, just 13 months before his death, Maiwald was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds, including Jupiter's moon Europa, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, or the dwarf planet Ceres.  Despite Maiwald being a JPL Principal, an award given to scientists 'making outstanding individual contributions' in their fields, NASA has never commented publicly on the scientist's death, and the only public record marking his passing was an obituary posted online.  The online obituary set up for Maiwald did not mention any health issues before the 61-year-old's death, and NASA JPL would neither confirm nor deny that Maiwald had been employed there for decades despite records of his achievements listed on their website. 

Alex Warren - Fever Dream

Artemis II Returns to Earth Today

 

Iran Now Charging Tolls on the Strait of Hormuz-- Trump Trying to Save Face

In yet another sign that Iran got the upper hand on Trump, there are now reports that Iran is charging some ships millions of dollars to pass through the Strait of Hormuz (according to NBC News).

Shipping traffic through the strait has plummeted since the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran in February. But some ships have been getting through.  

Ships carrying Iranian oil or goods have been allowed to pass freely, according to The Wall Street Journal. Ships from friendly nations have been paying a toll of $1 million or more, while ships from unfriendly countries have been blocked.  The situation has been dubbed “the Tehran toll booth” by shipping industry experts, according to NBC.

“The Strait of Hormuz is no longer a chokepoint,” Athens-based Xclusiv Shipbrokers said in a recent report, according to the Journal. ”It’s being reshaped into a controlled corridor where access is conditional, selective, and increasingly political.”

Although some ships have been forced to pay, it does not appear Iran has a consistent policy, according to NBC. State media reported the Iranian parliament was preparing legislation to formalize the tolls.

Ceasefire mediators say the current status quo (Tehran's tolls) in the strait is unlikely to change, especially in light of the confusion over the terms of the so-called ceasefire.  Iran and Pakistani mediators say that the ceasefire included Lebanon-- but with Israel continuing to bomb its northern neighbor Iran says that the terms of the ceasefire have been violated.

Trump claimed in an interview with ABC News that he’s considering a “joint venture” with Iran to manage tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.  But it's obvious to everyone that Trump is only trying to salvage his reputation as a dealmaker-- as Iran will almost certainly refuse to share tolls with the U.S. and Trump will not want to be seen as the one who called off the ceasefire.  What a mess!

 

Trump Threatens to Commit War Crimes, Then Backs Off After Accepting Iran's 10-point Ceasefire Plan

Yesterday, convicted felon Donald Trump threatened the death of Iran’s civilization, an escalation of his ongoing threats to commit international war crimes against that nation. Trump’s incendiary rhetoric validated long-running warnings from the Democratic Party about Trump issuing illegal orders to the U.S. military.

In a post to Truth Social Trump wrote, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” He added, “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

Trump’s threats come just a few days after he said the U.S. would be targeting Iran’s civilian infrastructure, hitting facilities like energy plants, water treatment centers, and key roads and bridges. Targeting such structures is a war crime.

Of course, Taco Don backed off from his threats late last night, when he announced that a ceasefire was in effect.   Trump tried to portray the ceasefire agreement as a "total victory," but this was quickly refuted by public statements issued by the Iran government.  Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi released a statement saying that Iran's military will coordinate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire, and that Washington had accepted “the general framework” of Iran’s 10-point proposal “as a basis for negotiations.” Iran's Supreme National Security Council (the country’s top security body) released a statement that confirmed the ceasefire but also portrayed the agreement as an Iranian victory.  

Iran said that talks with the U.S. would take place in Islamabad and laid out key parts of Tehran’s 10-point plan. It included regulating passage through the Strait of Hormuz; terminating attacks on Iran and its regional proxy forces, the withdrawal of US forces from the region, compensation to Iran, the lifting of international sanctions and unfreezing of assets as well as and a binding UN resolution to secure any ultimate peace deal.  

A senior White House official told CNN that Israel is part of the ceasefire and had agreed to also suspend its bombing campaign while negotiations continue.  But this was also quickly revealed to be a lie, as an Israeli military spokesperson confirmed that Israel was still carrying out strikes in Iran, despite reports of a "ceasefire." 

 

MAGA World Hates Flaws in Women

A photograph of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been purged from photo services. Why? Because it was supposedly taken at an unflattering angle.  According to Status, the photo—which shows Leavitt holding her son during a White House Thanksgiving event—was removed from AFP and Getty Images archives. The disappearing photo is just the latest example of the administration’s zeal to control its image—and the media playing along.

But shortly after the photo was removed from the archives, it began surfacing online, where it was reproduced by the official Democrats social media account.

A representative from AFP admitted that it was removed after the White House made the service “aware” of its displeasure. The photo clashes with the “correct” image of women that has been pushed by the MAGA movement. Outlets like Fox News have argued that conservative women are superior to their liberal counterparts because they purportedly embrace beauty treatments like hair dye and lip filler and put greater emphasis on women serving merely as vessels for producing babies.

But this isn’t the Trump administration’s first clash with unapproved photography.  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth barred photographers from attending war briefings at the Pentagon after supposedly “unflattering” images of the former Fox News host were taken earlier this month.

And last year, a Vanity Fair photo shoot with several members of the senior Trump team, including Leavitt, went viral after it highlighted their physical imperfections—again running counter to the administration’s misogynistic messaging about women.

President Donald Trump has argued for years that media outlets that do anything other than regurgitate his own lies and propaganda are “fake news,” and the administration has attacked and suppressed journalism that refuses to fall in line.  The choice by AFP and Getty to purge unapproved images shows that mainstream media continues to be subservient to Trump rather than focus on informing the public. 

 

Tony "Squeeze My Balls" Gonzales Still in Office

How is this creep still in office?

Explicit text messages published by the the San Antonio Express-News show GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales repeatedly asked his then-campaign director for nude photos and sex in 2020, years before admitting his 2024 affair with a congressional staffer who later died by suicide.

The previously unreported exchanges containing hundreds of messages were obtained by the newspaper. The messages, which the newspaper reported date from when Gonzales was a first-time Republican candidate in June 2020, show him escalating a late-night conversation with his campaign’s political director into explicit sexual requests over several days.

Within hours of initially discussing her dating life and complimenting her as a “smart girl,” the text messages show that Gonzales asked what she wore to bed, what kind of underwear she was wearing, and requested nude photos. The messages go on to describe how he wished to have sex with her and have her “squeeze my balls.”   

“I know what I want and won’t stop until I get it,” one message reads, according to the report.  When the campaign director declined his requests multiple times, he replied: “47 nos is about my limit.” The texts then include multiple requests for photos in the following days.  Despite the exchanges, the aide, granted anonymity, told the newspaper that no physical relationship occurred and that the pair “didn’t so much as touch.”

The revelations add to mounting scrutiny over Gonzales’s conduct following a separate 2024 affair with 35-year-old congressional aide Regina Santos-Aviles, which he publicly acknowledged as “a mistake” and “a lapse in judgment.” Santos-Aviles died by self-immolation in September 2025 after her husband discovered the messages.  Revelations related to that relationship prompted backlash from House Republican leaders and led Gonzales to abandon his bid for a fourth term. He is set to leave office in January. 

The former campaign director who shared the texts with the Express-News said she chose to come forward after learning of Santos-Aviles’s death in 2025. “He obviously pursued, pursued, pursued her like he did with me,” she said. “I never took him serious… It wasn’t until this poor girl died that I thought, ‘No, this guy is pure evil.’”

“This behavior needs to stop,” she added.