Latest news with #Goliath
Gulf Insider
16 hours ago
- Business
- Gulf Insider
Bitcoin Is Draining The Value Out Of Real Estate
With nearly $400 trillion in global value, real estate is the world's largest asset class, over three times the size of the global stock market and nearly four times global GDP. As more people have put their savings in real estate, houses have evolved from shelter to inflation-hedging assets that carry a significant monetary premium. Whether it's San Francisco, London, or Prague, residential and commercial landlords keep investing in more buildings despite only earning a 3% net rental yield. The reason is very simple: real estate makes for great collateral. In normal market conditions, banks are always happy to lend against real estate, which is why nearly anyone can get a mortgage. With mortgages, property owners can access liquidity through initial financing, refinancing, second loans, and Home Equity Lines of Credit. Despite the excesses that triggered the 2008 crisis, this system has largely worked: mortgages have democratized credit, offering liquidity without giving up ownership. That's part of what made real estate the undisputed king of store-of-value assets. But here's a question: why only real estate? Imagine you're a lender choosing between three borrowers—one offers gold, another a Ferrari, and the third a house. Technically, all can be collateral. But in practice? The house wins every time. Why? Gold can easily be transferred overseas, and cars can be driven away. But real estate is tied to land. As long as the state enforces property rights, the lender's position is secure. But what if there were a form of collateral that didn't even rely on legal enforcement? Enter Bitcoin. David vs. Goliath As collateral, Bitcoin outperforms real estate on nearly every metric: it's always available, globally recognized, instantly transferable, programmable, and secured by cryptography rather than legal systems. While selling a property requires navigating local markets, appraisals, fees, capital controls, and regulatory hurdles, liquidating Bitcoin collateral can be as simple as clicking one button. Even though everybody is currently focused on ETFs or corporate treasuries, Bitcoin's natural next step, as institutional adoption grows, will be collateral markets. As soon as you democratize non-custodial Bitcoin-backed loans, BTC becomes usable capital, similar to how people have been treating their house. And if borrowing against Bitcoin becomes easier, safer, and cheaper than borrowing against real estate, why would anyone store wealth in houses? Simple: they won't. Generally speaking, real estate's value is determined based on the cash flows the property can generate, plus a market-driven monetary premium. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a pure expression of monetary value, unburdened by physical constraints or ownership costs. As more capital flows into Bitcoin-backed credit markets, this monetary premium baked into property will inevitably collapse, and real estate will return to its utility value. Some indicators suggest this is already happening. The Tide is Changing Last year, Relai observed that real estate investors, private clients, and businesses have been 'flocking to Bitcoin, [considering it] the ultimate hedge against central banks and the dangers they bring with unexpected rate cuts.' Demographics reveal a clear generational shift: Millennials and Zoomers don't aspire as much to their grandparents' lifestyle of settling in one place. Many can no longer afford to buy a house because of the above-mentioned monetary premium. The rise of digital nomads and remote workers reveals a new reality—the ideal store of wealth today must be portable, global, and native to the internet. According to a 2024 survey, Zoomers are more invested in crypto (20%) than they are in stocks (18%), real estate (13%), or bonds (11%). The generational divide is even clearer when looking at Charles Schwab's survey: 62% of Millennials planned to invest in crypto ETFs last year, compared to only 15% of Baby Boomers. Bitcoin is poised to take a significant bite out of real estate's dominance. That's not just because it performs better as a store of value, but because lenders will prefer it as frictionless, programmable, and borderless collateral. As we have already seen a shift in generational preferences, if Bitcoin captures even a fraction of the monetary premium embedded in the $400T real estate market, tens of trillions worth of capital will rotate into it. That's not a tweak in capital flows—it's a global repricing event. Most people are not ready for how fast this will happen. But it's inevitable. Source Bitcoin Magazine
Business Upturn
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
House of David Season Season 2: Release date rumors, cast updates and what to expect next
By Aman Shukla Published on July 14, 2025, 18:00 IST Last updated July 14, 2025, 18:25 IST Man, House of David on Prime Video hit like a lightning bolt, didn't it? That first season, with David taking down Goliath and all the palace drama, had me glued to the screen. After pulling in 22 million viewers in just over two weeks, it's no shock that Amazon greenlit Season 2. So, what's the latest on when it's coming, who's returning, and what's next for our favorite shepherd-turned-hero? Let's dive in. When Can We Expect House of David Season 2? No official word on the release date yet, but there's some juicy buzz floating around. Jon Erwin, the showrunner, posted on Instagram about filming starting in Greece around Easter 2025. They're building some epic sets—think sprawling biblical fortresses. Season 1 went from cameras rolling to streaming in under a year, so we are betting we could see Season 2 by spring 2026, maybe April or May. Who's Coming Back in House of David Season 2? The cast is what makes House of David pop, and thankfully, most of the big names are set to return. Michael Iskander is back as David, and let me tell you, his performance gives me chills every time—equal parts heart and grit. Here's who else we're likely seeing: Ali Suliman as King Saul as King Saul Ayelet Zurer as Queen Ahinoam as Queen Ahinoam Stephen Lang as Samuel as Samuel Indy Lewis as Michal as Michal Ethan Kai as Jonathan as Jonathan Oded Fehr as Abner The Season 1 finale threw a curveball with Sam Otto's Eshbaal snagging the throne, so expect him to stir up trouble. Sadly, no Martyn Ford as Goliath (RIP, big guy). No word on new faces yet, but we are crossing our fingers for some fresh characters to shake things up. What's the Story Going to Be in House of David Season 2? Season 2 picks up after that insane Goliath fight. David's a hero now, but the crown's still a long way off. The finale left us with Eshbaal's sneaky power grab, so we are expecting a full-on rivalry with David. Plus, Saul's paranoia is bound to crank the drama to 11. Will David and Michal's romance bloom amidst the chaos? And how's Jonathan going to handle his family turning on his best friend? Jon Erwin's hinted at a multi-season arc, maybe even six seasons, tracing David's rise from fugitive to king. We are stoked for more battles, betrayals, and those quiet moments where David's faith shines through. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Surprising WWII shipwreck linked to famous David-vs-Goliath sea battle is found
A famed Japanese destroyer lost in 1942 has been found severed on the South Pacific seafloor — the result of a fantastic David-vs.-Goliath sea battle that remains the stuff of legend for the U.S. Navy. The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki was discovered July 10, at a depth of 2,624 feet in the Solomon Islands, the Ocean Exploration Trust reported in a July 12 news release. Among the revelations made by a remotely operated camera: the 440-foot-long ship was split, with its stern hitting the seafloor 656 feet away from the hull, the trust noted. And even after 83 years, the wreck remains armed with highly volatile munitions, scientists noted. 'When the exploration team found a 19-meter-long (62-feet) severed segment of Teruzuki's stern littered with depth charges, it disproved a long-held theory that it was depth charge explosions that sealed the ship's fate,' the trust said in its release. The ship's forward artillery turrets remain pointing skyward, which proved to be the wrong direction, historians say. To slay a giant The Teruzuki was massive, stretching nearly 100 feet longer than a football field, yet its demise was dealt Dec. 12, 1942, by two U.S. Navy PT boats that were scarcely 77 feet long, historians say. A retelling of the sinking by the U.S. Naval Institute notes the PT-boats were firing their torpedoes at 'shadows in the murk,' and only later realized it was the flagship of Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka — known to historians as 'Tenacious Tanaka' due to 'his courage in leading nighttime attacks.' 'They heard a tremendous roar as thousands of pounds of water soared skyward,' the institute reports. 'One of their torpedoes had struck home near the aft of the ship, immediately rendering the Teruzuki unnavigable and throwing Tanaka himself unconscious to the deck. ... The whole scene (was) bathed in an orange glow as leaking fuel on the Teruzuki ignited, illuminating the crippled Japanese ship for miles.' The fire eventually reached powder magazines and the Teruzuki 'buckled under a massive explosion' and sank around 4:40 a.m., the institute says. Most of the crew was rescued by nearby Japanese ships. Historians credit the sinking to PT-37 and PT-40, which escaped before nearby Japanese ships could return fire. 'In just a few minutes' time, they had felled the single largest warship sunk by any PT boat during the war,' the institute reports. Finding history The location of Teruzuki was discovered by coincidence, when an uncrewed seafloor mapping vessel spotted evidence of something the size of a ship, the trust says. Scientists sent a remotely operated vehicle to investigate and found a 'never-before-seen ship' that was heavily damaged and deteriorating. It was identified with the help of a Japanese researcher on the team, Hiroshi Ishii, of the Center for Southeast Asian Area Studies at Kyoto University in Japan. Video recorded at the wreck is helping WWII historians rewrite the ship's final hours, the trust says. 'Japanese naval vessel plans were kept highly secret during the war, so much so that no historical images of Teruzuki exist today,' the researchers said. 'This survey is the first ever look at the vessel for this generation.' The find was made as part of a 21-day expedition in the Iron Bottom Sound that is documenting known WWII wrecks and investigating sites that are suspected to be undiscovered military boats and planes. Teruzuki is the 12th wreck to be explored during the expedition, which is broadcasting its dives live via Five major naval battles were staged in the Iron Bottom Sound region in late 1942, resulting 'in the loss of over 20,000 lives, 111 naval vessels, and 1,450 planes,' the trust says. 'To date, fewer than 100 of these US, Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand military ships and planes have been located,' trust officials said.
The Intercept
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Intercept
What To Do When You See ICE in Your Neighborhood
Federal agents near MacArthur Park in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles on July 7, 2025. Photo: Carlin Steihl / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Justin Caffier is a journalist and occasional artist based out of Los Angeles. His investigative and experiential writing has featured in VICE, New York Magazine, and other outlets. You can find him on most platforms @justin caffier . To commemorate 30 days of its Los Angeles occupation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its auxiliary federal forces swarmed the city's MacArthur Park earlier this week with cavalry, gunner-mounted humvees, and lines of agents kitted out for war. Monday's boondoggle, later revealed in a leak as 'Operation Excalibur,' resulted in no known arrests. This slapdash show of force accomplished little more than shutting down a children's summer camp and further pissing off beleaguered Angelenos. It failed, in part, because LA has spent the past month learning how to fight back. Local news reports indicate that activists were ready. They preemptively raised the alarm with multilingual flyers, had lawyers on deck, and shouted warnings through megaphones once federal agents arrived. During the botched raid, U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino made it clear that the occupation is only just beginning. 'Better get used to us now,' Bovino told Fox News at the scene. 'Because this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, any time we want in Los Angeles.' 'We're peaceful people. But we're not going to allow y'all to kidnap us, to beat us, to brutalize us. ' But in Downtown LA that evening, a coalition of community groups held their own press conference celebrating 30 days of resistance. Well aware of the impotence or unwillingness of elected leaders to meaningfully hinder the federal terrorization of the city and the complicity of local law enforcement, these groups have spent the past month — many much longer than that — organizing collective approaches to protect those without documentation. Fired up by that morning's raid, speakers were clear-eyed about the David-vs.-Goliath fight ahead. But they were more resolved than ever to win it. As everyone there seemed to fully understand, Los Angeles is the test case for what President Donald Trump will try to get away with elsewhere. Fighting back here matters far beyond city limits. Ron Gochez, who founded Unión del Barrio's LA chapter and volunteers patrolling the streets and manning the hotlines for the affiliated Community Self Defense Coalition, closed the rally with an impassioned call to action. 'If they want to keep attacking us, they have to know they're going to suffer losses too,' he shouted to a roaring crowd. 'You can take it how you want. We're peaceful people. But we're not going to allow y'all to kidnap us, to beat us, to brutalize us. We're not going to allow it. We will fight back.' But what can you actually do to effectively resist when, not if, ICE comes to your town? With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's unprecedented new funding for Trump's detention and deportation machine, it's clear the administration's fascistic operations will only grow bigger and bolder. I've been reporting on and observing anti-ICE agitation around LA nearly every day over the past month. In this time, I spoke with activists leading the fight, including Gochez, and experts from organizations like No Sleep for ICE, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles, or NLG-LA. Here are some tips gleaned from those conversations on what to do when the state's masked kidnappers descend upon your town. To gain some on-the-ground advocacy experience while pursuing her law degree, Elizabeth Howell-Egan became a board member at the NLG-LA, which provides pro bono legal support for immigrants and protesters arrested by federal agents. She cautioned that while the First Amendment and other protections should safeguard those recording and reporting on immigration raids, there's often a gulf between the letter and application of the law. NLG-LA takes great pains to underscore this disparity and the unfair but inherent dangers that come with exercising these liberties at their popular 'know your rights' workshops. Know your rights, know your risks, know your reality. 'We say 'know your rights, know your risks, know your reality,'' Howell-Egan explained. 'Saying 'I don't consent to this search' probably won't stop the police from searching you. But that could make it so, in theory, they have to throw out whatever [charge] they find from that illegal search.' Like others I spoke to, Howell-Egan encouraged activists to do their utmost to avoid the expensive, time-consuming, and physically perilous prospect of arrest. Calling resistance efforts 'a marathon, not a sprint,' she stated a preference for collective, mass-defense approaches that endanger as few individual protesters as possible. Out running errands and see a cluster of weirdos kitted out for war, milling about like they're stuck in a Call of Duty matchmaking lobby? Grab some pics and vids to raise the alarm. Keep in mind that specificity is paramount when logging these sightings, both to increase efficacy and avoid panic. Fortunately, one of master's own tools has proven itself an invaluable counterintelligence asset. Plucked straight from U.S. military field books, the acronym S.A.L.U.T.E. can help you gather the most pertinent details. It's also the practice almost universally recommended by the groups I spoke to. Size: How many people and/or vehicles do you see? Activity: What, specifically, are they doing that's suspicious? Location: What address, cross streets, or landmark are they at (the more specific the better)? Uniform: What are they wearing, whether it's fatigues, nondescript civilian clothes, or something else entirely? Time: What date and time did you observe them? Equipment: What guns, weapons, or devices do they appear to be carrying? Follow and Repost With Discretion Thanks for taking such comprehensive notes. Now where do you send them? There's no evidence the feds are conducting 'how do you do, fellow antifa' honeypot busts. But anyone attempting to post alerts about the activities of federal agents would be wise to operate as if they were. The groups I spoke to remain concerned about infiltrators stymying their efforts. Even at the press conference, activists clocked and called out a suspected undercover among the crowd. Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all approach for this element of activism. To safely discover and interact with the patchwork of anti-ICE activities around LA, I relied on trusted individuals from my personal network of journalists and activists, as well as community groups and organizers leading local efforts. But if you're just getting started, the accounts mentioned in this article, any of the more than 65 groups that have joined LA's Community Self Defense Coalition, or the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights are solid sources of information. And if you're ever unsure about an entity's bona fides, sites like can help determine if an outfit is legit or carpetbagging. After sharing your hot ICE tip, there's another key step. Call your area's Rapid Response Network, a multi-organizational, community-based coalition that helps mobilize to protect vulnerable immigrant groups in real time. These groups can take your tip and turn it into action. Take, for instance, No Sleep for ICE. The group's Instagram account provides daily lists of hotels lodging federal agents — resulting in noisy protests designed to make the occupation inhospitable for the occupiers. No Sleep for ICE also does the critical job of issuing on-the-fly corrections and victory posts once a location is confirmed agent-free. A No Sleep for ICE representative, who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity out of concerns for their safety, said the account functions thanks to a network of volunteers who turn tips into a robust database of vehicles, license plates, individuals, and locations believed to be associated with the federal forces. This critical information is relevant for just a short moment, making the group's work feel almost Sisyphean. 'Nothing is consistent. Everything changes every day,' the representative said. 'We can produce photos today and, by tomorrow, none of it will matter.' No Sleep for ICE relies almost entirely on community tipsters to piece together enough of the puzzle to build a working theory of which hotels are hosting agents, before the group begins the corroboration process. The last thing the group wants, according to the source, is to act on a false positive. The overarching fear brought about by the raids has engendered a 'better safe than sorry' reporting strategy among citizen spotters, where anything that could be ICE-related is passed along. But tipsters could considerably lighten the load by spending a few extra seconds confirming their information before contacting tip lines. We may never know how much worse the false sighting problem has been made by deeply ingrained and addictive social incentives of the online platforms used to share warnings. Nonetheless, every tip sent to No Sleep for ICE and other community watchdogs has to be investigated — often sending volunteers scrambling to check false alarms, such as Recreation and Parks Department employees, Forest Rangers, and film crews. Taking an additional beat to check a suspicious car for tinted windows, hidden grille lights, or a backseat cage can mean the difference between sending volunteers on a goose chase or confirming a true threat. Though Snapchat and Instagram stories condition us to believe our online ephemera expires after a 24-hour life cycle, counterintelligence warnings warrant more active digital stewardship. Don't forget to take your post down (and ideally replace it with an update or retraction) should the situation change. This practice may seem like overkill, but there can be real consequences. Outdated or unsubstantiated warnings don't just merely send latecomers into harm's way. They also keep people from their jobs, customers from businesses, and exacerbate the culture of fear these raids seek to foment. Nobody's perfect or keeping a record of you here. Consider this the digital activism equivalent of returning your shopping cart. Do the small but right thing. Organizers have so far used the big social media platforms to great effect to protect their local immigrant communities. But these tech platforms are nonetheless inherently compromised by the oligarchs who own them. There's not yet concrete proof these services are feeding relevant intel to an administration they are courting during this renaissance of pay-to-play politics, but it's prudent to act as if they are. Enter Signal, the imperfect but still exceedingly secure messaging app historically favored by journalists, whistleblowers, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. For many activists, this end-to-end encryption app became standard operating procedure long before ICE's 2025 onslaught. But as more first-timers are joining the cause, it's useful to follow these guidelines: If it's sent to you on Signal (particularly images and videos), don't take that content off the app, at least without permission. Set a timer so your messages and images automatically expire after a while. Don't use your legal name or phone number as your user name. If you must screenshot, cropping out all avatars and initials is just the start. Also scour the text or image for any potentially identifying features. Signal even has a tool for blurring critical information. If an event organizer has already posted about an activity on a social media platform, it's likely fine to reshare it there. But if you want to share with someone who is not a mutual on said platform, sending that link or image via Signal is more secure than doing so over iMessage or WhatsApp. Those abstracted philosophical hypotheticals, trolley problems, and obviously satirical jokes you share with your pals that touch upon topics like violence, sedition, and treason are a healthy reaction to processing the horrors of the world around us. But don't you ever put that in any text box outside of Signal. It doesn't always matter if you never hit 'send.' A recurring tactic of this administration and its online minions — bots and boot-lickers alike — has been to weaponize pedantry. The tactic is to discredit or simply waste the time of well-intentioned people by challenging anyone who mixes up any inconsequential detail while chronicling the chaos unfolding around them. Such was the case when the Department of Homeland Security deployed a historically grim 'um, actually' on June 19 after the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed to turn away ICE agents attempting to use their stadium for raid staging. 'This had nothing to do with the Dodgers,' DHS' quote tweet challenged. 'CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.' Aw, geez. Turns out they were Customs and Border Patrol, not ICE. Who gives a shit? Especially when they're all working toward the same evil ends while purposefully obfuscating their identities. Don't sweat if you can't figure out which federal agency a group of Special Ops cosplayers belong to, but don't chum in the water either. When in doubt, a simple 'feds' will suffice. Many of the immigrants targeted by feds make their living selling food as street vendors. The looming threat of raids has made it near impossible for them to do their public-facing jobs, so activists have begun organizing 'cart buy-outs,' to purchase and redistribute their product for them. If you've been meaning to get more fresh fruit in your diet, there's never been a better time or method to do so than with one of these. If you have a few dollars more to spare, consider donating directly to the organizations active in your community. Even the ones not asking for donations would almost certainly accept a few bucks to help with all the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by their volunteers. Though this guide is primarily advising on 'observe and report'-style resistance efforts, there's certainly more you can do if posting ICE sightings and attending protests doesn't feel like enough. There are free street medic training classes, car caravan blockades, and even community watches to join. But you should keep in mind that such interventionist approaches come with higher degrees of risk and warrant more in-depth training than just reading an article. The many organizations making up LA's Community Self Defense Coalition conduct the boots-on-the-ground work protecting residents of this 'sanctuary city' that its elected officials and law enforcement officers refuse. Community Self Defense Coalition volunteers like Gochez often wind up playing the role of scouts. Once ICE agents are spotted, volunteers follow them to their target location and get on megaphones, warning members of the community to stay indoors or, as Gochez described a recent victory in the Highland Park neighborhood, encouraging everyone with documentation to come outside and scare the outnumbered agents into retreat. Gochez, a high school history teacher of 20 years, starts his prowl for ICE at 5:30 a.m. He told me that there's always a need for more volunteers, though he'd prefer would-be patrollers get properly educated first. 'We've trained thousands of people to do [community patrols] in different parts of the country and here in LA locally,' he said. 'But we're also getting a ton of people patrolling on their own … and following [agents] too close or too fast, and that can get ugly very quickly.' 'We can visibly tell that the agents are really, really frustrated. Public opinion is absolutely turning against them.' While Gochez laments that anyone has been captured in government operations at all, he thinks the figure would be much worse if people were not so aware of their rights or stepping up to protect each other. 'We know that a lot of people have been taken in LA,' said Gochez, 'but we know that this would be 10 times worse if it wasn't for the organized resistance that we've been putting up against these people. And we can visibly tell that the agents are really, really frustrated. Public opinion is absolutely turning against them.'
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
$7 Aldi Bulk Buys kitchen item Aussies begging for returns
A popular kitchen item from a German supermarket chain is finally back on shelves after customers begged for its return. Aldi's popular Bulk Household Special Buys range is back from July 16 and it is set to feature the fan favourite Goliath 300m Cling Wrap. The cling wrap retails for $6.99. Customers have been begging for the item's return, with some revealing it had lasted them more than two years. 'Finally finished the 300m cling wrap after two years and three months,' one Aldi fan revealed. 'And then hubby bought the 600m today. Guess we don't need another box for four-and-a-half-years.' Another declared the item 'worth it' after purchasing it for her family of six. 'You can see they lasted us a while and still looks like there is a fair bit on each roll. I'd hate to think how many 30m rolls at Coles or Woolworths I would have bought at that time for $5 I would have bought in that time.' The cling wrap was given a 78 per cent rating by CHOICE after it noted no pulling or tearing with use, and a 'good sealing performance'. Other items in the Bulk Household Special Buys include the $10.99 Baking Paper 90m. the $16.99 Aluminium Foil 150m, $24.99 Laundry Powder 5kg and the $7.99 Super Strength Dishwashing Liquid 3L. In 2022, customers were stunned to discover there was a cling wrap cutter hidden at the end of the roll. 'Whoever the clever person was that mentioned the cling wrap cutter … a thousand thanks,' one woman shared, after being directed to it by another fan. In a second image it showed if customers opened the side of the box, it was hidden inside the roll. Hundreds of social media comments rolled in, with many stunned at the revelation. 'OMG I just found it after using the cling wrap for at least six months,' one person said. 'I just wasted a bit just to see how easily it cut.' The Goliath Cling Wrap 30m, which retails for $1.65, comes with a standard cutter and is part of the every day range. However, the 300m is part of the Special Buys and the cutter is found inside the tube.
