The Midwest faced widespread damage Tuesday after a fierce line of thunderstorms produced a high-velocity windstorm called a derecho.

That high-velocity windstorm was so powerful that it actually caused a home in Portage, Indiana to explode…

Amid the storms, a home exploded in Portage, Indiana — erupting into flames after it was hit by wind gusts up to 99 miles per hour.

Many refer to derechos as “inland hurricanes” because of the force of the winds.

In Illinois, one woman lost her brand new barbecue grill and her entire roof to the howling winds…

There were numerous reports of wind gusts of 80 mph or more at personal weather stations.

“Total devastation. No roof,” said Kerry Hourigan, standing outside her home of 25 years in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park. “Stupid thing, but my focus was I just bought a new barbecue grill, and I have no idea where that is. It’s disappeared.”

A number of tornadoes also spawned in the Chicago area.

And as we have seen so many other times already this year, those tornadoes left behind very impressive trails of destruction…

The National Weather Service confirmed that at least three tornadoes touched down in Chicago’s south suburbs during the midday hours Tuesday. Photos from the Chicago area posted on social media showed flooded roads, trees tangled in power lines and homes with gashes in their roofs.

Illinois has already shattered the state record for tornadoes in a single year.

By the time 2026 is done, meteorologist Bill Snyder believes that Illinois will break the national record for tornadoes in a single year…

“This is the craziest storm season I’ve ever seen,” WGN-TV meteorologist Bill Snyder said. “There’s been no rest for the wicked.”

Snyder said Illinois will likely pass 200 confirmed tornadoes after Tuesday’s storms, far and away the most tornadoes of any state in the country for 2026, according to the National Weather Service.

If Illinois continues this stormy trend, it may not only add to its state record but perhaps break a nationwide record for the total number of tornadoes in one state in any single year — 232 tornados in Texas in 2015 and 1967.

“I’m firmly convinced Illinois will break the national tornado record before 2026 is over,” Snyder said.

Following the derecho and the tornadoes, it started to pour in the Midwest.

The rain just kept coming down hour after hour.

Now some parts of Indiana look like they were just hit by Noah’s Flood…

Flooding submerged Indiana neighborhoods in water for the second day in a row, as parts of the state saw Wednesday the highest daily rainfall totals ever recorded in their areas.

Some braced for more severe weather still ahead, as meteorologists warned Thursday that Indianapolis faced the greatest threats of storms slated to bring heavy rain to the Midwest throughout the rest of the week.

Upwards of 36 million people were under flood alerts Thursday across the region, according to the National Weather Service. Its forecast offices in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Tennessee warned that rainfall across each state could be persistent and widespread, potentially drenching parts of each state with another 4 inches or more.

It would be difficult for me to overstate the severity of this disaster.

The city of New Castle, Indiana actually experienced a 1-in-1,000 year rainfall event…

New Castle received more than 11 inches of rain in just over a day. Such a high rainfall rate is extremely rare, with only a 1 in 1,000, or 0.1%, chance of it happening in any given year.

That part of Indiana is not supposed to get 11 inches of rain.

But it just did.

As the water rose all around him, one man saved his life by clinging to a light pole…

Many people had to be rescued by boat in Cambridge City, Indiana, after catastrophic floods on Wednesday left them stranded. Water filled city streets, rising several feet in the hardest-hit places and seeping into, at best, the ground floors of local homes. Some residents faced harsher conditions, with the deluge completely covering the roofs of their cars or crashing into their homes through doors and windows.

 One man desperately clung to a light pole in Cambridge City as muddy, brown water swirled around him, before he was eventually rescued. Another, Christian Corder, of nearby New Castle, Indiana, evacuated his home after it flooded and told “CBS Mornings” that dealing with the aftermath has been “very overwhelming.”

“A lot of stuff is ruined,” Corder said, recalling how “the rain never stopped — it just kept coming and coming.”

Indiana Governor Mike Braun has declared a state of emergency, and more rain is on the way.

Meanwhile, the Southeast is about to experience a different kind of an emergency.

Over the next few days, it will be covered by “the planet’s strongest heat dome”…

  That is no ordinary heat dome.

And things are going to get really, really hot for those that will be underneath.

According to meteorologist Jeff Berardelli, the heat index in some parts of the Southeast could reach 115 degrees…

  If you live in the Southeast, please try to stay inside this weekend.

And if you live in Hawaii, that advice applies as well.

Tropical Storm Lala just formed, and it is expected to strengthen greatly as it approaches the Hawaiian islands…

Tropical Storm Lala has formed in the Central Pacific Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said on the morning of Aug. 13, adding that a hurricane watch has been issued for the Big Island of Hawaii.

Lala, now with sustained winds of 40 mph, is forecast to strengthen and could be near hurricane strength when it approaches the Big Island by early Saturday, Aug. 15.

On the island of Oahu, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a news release that “this is the time to prepare, not panic,” as the system approached. “We still do not know exactly where this system will track or how strong it will become, but we know enough to take it seriously. I am asking everyone on Oahu to use the next several days wisely.”

Yes, Hawaii can get a lot of rain.

But this storm is different.

We are being told that up to 20 inches of rain could fall, and if that happens it is likely that we will witness “life-threatening flooding”…

The storm is forecast to carve a path near the island chain, with dangerous weather conditions beginning Friday night.

“The Potential Tropical Cyclone is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches across much of the Island chain, with maximum totals of 20 inches possible. This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” the National Hurricane Center wrote, adding that life-threatening surf and rip currents are also expected.

Before I end this article, I certainly don’t want to leave out the western portion of the nation.

Over 6.4 million acres have already burned in the United States in 2026, and most of that land is located in our western states…

The numbers are staggering: Wildfires this year have consumed more than 6.4 million acres of land across the country as of Thursday, with 103 new fires reported on Wednesday alone.

Things are particularly bad in the Northwest.

At this point, portions of every single national park in the state of Washington have burned.

We have never seen anything like this before.

I realize that I have been writing about this “Godzilla El Niño” a lot, but there is a reason why I have been doing so.

Many believe that this “Godzilla El Niño” is the primary reason why we have been witnessing so many crazy weather events, and now we are being told that it has gotten even stronger…

El Niño continued to strengthen over the past month, the Climate Prediction Center said, with sea-surface temperatures more than 3.6 degrees above average in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

The Climate Prediction Center report, which synthesizes several climate models from North America and abroad, also said that this El Niño will continue to strengthen through the end of the year.

A lot of experts expect this “Godzilla El Niño” to far surpass the strength of any other El Niño in recorded history by a very wide margin.

If that turns out to be accurate, what we have experienced so far will just be the tip of the iceberg.

So buckle up and hold on tight, because it appears that things could get very bumpy during the months ahead.

 (China has had it far worse. Wait until all those earthquakes and volcanoes start hitting the US. The West coast will be one huge disaster.)

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Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin

 Firefox says it will keep supporting uBlock Origin even as Microsoft Edge and other Chromium browsers phase it out under Manifest V3.

Firefox recently announced via Bluesky post: “Our support for uBlock Origin isn’t going anywhere.” The moment comes in response to news that Microsoft Edge is soon going to lock out uBlock Origin and other ad-blocking extensions that run on Manifest V2 architecture.

 Once Microsoft Edge moves to Manifest V3, ad-blocking extensions won’t have access to the functions needed to properly identify and block ads that occur while browsing websites and watching videos.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3212428/firefox-is-now-the-last-major-browser-that-still-supports-ublock-origin.html

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Alarming study finds top chatbots more likely to repeat falsehoods from the left: Truly astonishing

 Three of the world’s four leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are more likely to fall for political falsehoods from the left than the right, while frequently backing their answers with sources that don’t support their claims or don’t exist, according to a comprehensive new study.

The study, conducted by Just Facts, tested paid versions of ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and Claude using 100 questions on immigration, abortion, climate change, elections, crime, gun control, COVID-19 and other key issues. The questions were "designed to elicit falsehoods" from the left and the right, with each chatbot required to provide sources for its answers.

The study found ChatGPT correctly answered 94% of questions designed to elicit falsehoods from the right, compared with 75% from the left. Gemini scored 91% on the right and 76% on the left, while Claude scored 91% on the right and 81% on the left.

Grok moved in the opposite direction, scoring 73% on questions designed to elicit falsehoods from the right and 84% on those from the left, according to the study.

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/alarming-study-finds-top-chatbots-more-likely-repeat-falsehoods-left-truly-astonishing

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ICE Roundup Of Haitian Migrants Begins In Ohio

 by Tyler Durden

It all started with complaints from residents in Springfield, OH that a surge of Haitian migrants was causing chaos and an odd disappearance of local wildlife and pets.  City officials and local companies where shipping the migrants in by the thousands and giving them jobs.  NGOs arranged for extensive handouts including housing, food and cash. Initially, all of this was done while avoiding any discussion with the community at large.

The surge started after 2021, but the Biden Administration denied that such a plan existed.  Within a few years, Springfield's Haitian population grew from a couple thousand to over 15,000 migrants.  That's nearly 25% of the total population of the city.  This does not happen without government coordination.

This problem is about the be rectified, with ICE officially operating in Ohio.  The Haitian round-up has begun.  With the latest Supreme Court decision, TPS designations can now be terminated by the Trump Administration. Many migrants exploiting TPS are being called in by ICE to turn in their passports and wear an ankle monitor.  These are people who will likely be deported in the near term.  NGO's are already trying to preempt deportations by mobilizing well funded left-wing activists.

 https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ice-roundup-haitians-begins-ohio

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Trump's DOJ Will Reportedly Support End Of National Firearms Act After 92 Years

The gun community has been on edge, wondering if Trump's DOJ will step in and appeal a court ruling which nullifies the NFA.  Reports suggest they will not interfere...

 https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trumps-doj-will-reportedly-support-end-national-firearms-act-after-92-years

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House Committees Detail Harvard Ties With Chinese Entities In New Report

The committees identified 140 publications co-authored by Harvard-affiliated researchers and researchers affiliated with Chinese universities

 https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-committees-detail-harvard-ties-chinese-entities-new-report

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Three things I would never buy at Costco as an Environmental Scientist.

 Downy Ultimate Fusions. Looks like candy but it’s fusing carcinogenic and hormone disrupting chemicals into your clothes.

 Traditional laundry detergents. Surfactants, brighteners, fragrances linked to hormone disruption and the big C. Your lungs breathe these allergens all day.

 Front loading washers. They grow black mold in the rim and that mold releases mycotoxins that can wipe out your family.

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Two Nashville Teachers Say Bureaucrats Pressured Them to FABRICATE Grades for Failing Students — One Suspended After She Refused to Cook the Books

 https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/two-nashville-teachers-say-bureaucrats-pressured-them-fabricate/

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Huntsville Defense Firm Unveils Homegrown “Firefly” Laser That Zaps Enemy Drones in Seconds 

 https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/huntsville-defense-firm-unveils-homegrown-firefly-laser-that/

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