Zero Rss

Turkey Restricts Black Sea Traffic As Drone Attacks On Commercial Vessels Spike

Via The Cradle

Turkey has begun restricting commercial ship traffic into the Black Sea amid a surge in Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian vessels, Bloomberg reported Saturday.

Turkiye's Directorate General of Coastal Safety has informed several ships heading to Novorossiysk, an important Russian oil and grain export port, that it is not issuing transit permits at this time and requires more time to review passage applications through the Dardanelles.

via Reuters

The sources told Bloomberg that Turkish authorities had provided no explanation for the move. Some vessels have also reportedly been told that the restriction applies to ships heading to Ukraine.

The report comes after a series of drone attacks targeting Turkish commercial vessels operating in the Black Sea and near Russian ports in recent months.

On Friday, a Turkish-flagged vessel, the MV Gulluk, was struck by a drone off the Russian port of Novorossiysk. Although the drone hit the ship's living quarters, no crew members were reported injured or killed.

On August 3rd, the Ro-Ro cargo vessel Nadezhda was struck by a drone about 20 nautical miles off Novorossiysk while en route from the Russian port to Samsun. Three members of the ship's crew were injured and in serious condition after the attack. The same day, two civilian vessels, the Yasar and the Nadezhda, were attacked after leaving Novorossiysk.

In response, Turkiye's Foreign Minister issued a statement saying it was "deeply concerned about the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, which is affecting civilian shipping despite our numerous warnings."

"Unless preventive measures are taken, the escalation in the Black Sea will have multifaceted negative repercussions, including for food security," the statement added.

Ukraine's targeting of ships in the Black Sea, as well as Russia's attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure and vessels, have threatened grain exports from both countries, pushing wheat prices to a two-year high in July.

"Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, and Ukraine is known as Europe's breadbasket, while mutual attacks between the two countries are putting pressure on maritime transport in the region during the harvest season," Anadolu Agency reported.

❗️Turkish sailors film the moment a group of Ukrainian “Shahed-like” kamikaze drones fly past before striking a Russian vessel in the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/yLR7xB6dWf

— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@front_ukrainian) August 8, 2026

Global food prices already spiked as a result of soaring energy prices following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf earlier this year. Iran closed the strait in response to the US-Israel war of aggression, disrupting oil and natural gas exports from the Gulf countries partnering with the US and Israel in the war.

Global fuel prices have also risen in response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. On Saturday, a Ukrainian drone targeted the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's ‌southern Krasnodar region, causing it to catch fire.

Ukraine's general staff said the Ukrainian military also hit the Syzran oil ​refinery in the Samara region of Russia overnight, causing a fire there as well.

The Ilsky refinery can process over 6 ​million metric tons of oil per year, while the Syzran refinery has a ​processing capacity of 8.5 million tons ​annually.

In May, Reuters estimated that disruptions associated with the wars between the US and Iran and between Russia and Ukraine together had knocked out nearly 9 percent of global refining capacity.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 07:00

The Trojan Horse Inside Your Head: How Government Propaganda Is Quietly Dismantling Free Thought

Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker,

Ignore the bureaucrats; listen to the free thinkers...

If the Trojan War were being fought today, the Greeks would not need to hide inside of a big, wooden horse and hope to be dragged inside Troy’s city gates.  They’d simply disseminate all kinds of lies on social media and wait for the Trojan people to fight each other.  Such is the power of corrosive ideas: They can destroy a civilization before its defenders understand that they are under attack.

Information warfare is the name of the game today.  It exists all around us.  Soundbites attack us from every phone, computer, tablet, and television screen.  Succinct messages ripple through social media platforms until people from opposite sides of the world repeat the same words without knowing why.

The most powerful bits of information are the ones that sound unquestionably true.  “Believe all women.”  “Black lives matter.”  “Build back better.”  Their simplicity assists their deception.  We certainly shouldn’t distrust women, right?  Who wants to argue that black lives mean nothing?  Surely nobody wishes to build something worse than it was before.  People hear the soundbites, nod their heads, and repeat those words to their friends and neighbors.  Some place signs in their yards with those three-word messages, as if they were brilliant expositions of fundamental truths.

Successful information warfare propagates ideas without triggering in those who receive the message any need for reflection.  Like the Greeks’ wooden horse, the communication is hollow.  It is intended to be just attractive enough that listeners drag the soundbite into their heads but sufficiently harmless in appearance to avoid real scrutiny.  Great propaganda does not conquer by force.  It seduces.  It knocks on the door, smiles, and charms its way into unsuspecting minds.  Then it waits — patiently — until the day arrives when it can do the most damage.

Effective propaganda, however, is inherently fragile.  Should anyone take the time to reflect on those three-word messages above, their magic spells are broken.  Once someone asks, “Don’t some women lie?” people remember that accusations matter less than evidentiary proof.  Once a person is shouted down for saying, “All lives matter,” it becomes clear that “diversity” and “equity” have nothing to do with equality and justice.  When anyone stops to ask, “What are we building, and why are we building it?” the World Economic Forum’s plans for a “new world order” stand naked and exposed.

In other words, thinking is the enemy of information warfare.  Those who engage in its dark arts see independent thinkers as missile shields that must be eliminated.  Reason and rational debate remain the most effective defenses against propaganda.  People who ask questions build forts for society with their minds.  The entrances to those forts are adorned with this sign: Come let us reason together.

Reasoned debate is not scary; on the contrary, it is the path upon which we walk toward enlightenment.  It is why people who demand complianceshould never be trusted.  Anyone who says, “The science is settled,” or, “Trust the experts,” seeks to deprive the listener not only of his capacity to reason but also of his prospect for salvation.  When we forsake the mental gifts that God has given us, we hobble our potential for spiritual growth.  Nobody has ever been redeemed for “just following orders.”  A good life comes from good choices, and good choices come from faithful contemplation.  In this way, attacks on free speech are attacks on our very souls.

When propagandists attack our souls from all directions, it is difficult to know who is waging war against us and why.  But there are telltale signs.  When groups and governments attempt to “cancel” individuals for their personal beliefs, they are waging war against individual conscience.

Sometimes acts of war are obvious, as when a British communist allegedly bludgeoned well-known conservative Ann Widdecombe to death with a hammer.  Other times, information warfare is more subtle, as when the British government banned Christian and Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen from flying through London’s Heathrow Airport because she boldly defends the Bible’s prohibition against sexual sin, something that both Finland and the United Kingdom have now officially criminalized as “hate speech.”  Along the same lines, the Polish government recently convicted a young, pregnant mother for the “crime” of speaking at a public rally against mass immigration.  Found guilty of “inciting hatred,” Oliwia Olejniczak has received a harsher punishment for expressing her opinion than many illegal immigrants have for committing rape.

When governments abuse their criminal justice systems to persecute Christians and mothers concerned about their families’ safety, the signs are clear: Those governments are at war with their own people.  When governments “cancel” citizens for their beliefs, politicians and bureaucrats identify for us which independent thinkers they most fear.  As is written in the Gospel of Matthew (5:10), “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”  When people stand up for moral truths — while bearing the brunt of their governments’ hatred — pay attention.  Those people are building forts for society with their minds.  Seek the shelter of those forts; then expand those forts to protect others.  This is the way to defeat government propaganda.

Those who engage in information warfare have a propensity for projecting their crimes onto the innocent.  This is why leftwing groups and governments accuse Christians of “hate speech,” while saying the most hateful things about Christians.  It is also why governments and NGOs insist on categorizing citizens’ dissenting speech as “disinformation” or “misinformation,” when governments and NGOs manufacture false information on an industrial scale.

There has never been a time in human history when self-appointed public censors turned out to be the “good guys.”  Communists, fascists, Nazis, and military dictators all believe in censoring public speech and rigging public debate.  The globalists, socialists, collectivists, and other Big Government parasites that have infiltrated and seized most national governments today likewise believe in censorship and the criminalization of dissent.  Information — whether true or false — does not belong to any one group of people.  Oligarchies are not filled with angels; they are filled with sinful human beings.

We saw how evil oligarchies can be during the COVID lockdowns.  Government bureaucrats and self-described “experts” told us explicitly, “Now is the time to do what you’re told.”  Western governments committed unforgivable crimes against their citizens in the name of “science.”  Australia rounded up people into “quarantine camps,” and we now know that pretend-President Joe Biden’s CDC was planning to do the same thing in the United States.

For eighty years, American schoolchildren have been taught that President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII was an unconscionable violation of Americans’ constitutional rights that could never be permitted to happen again.  Yet it almost did happen again.  The U.S. government was preparing to imprison Americans who refused experimental pharmaceutical injections or expressed unapproved speech.  In January 2022, majorities of Democrats believed that “unvaccinated” Americans should be fined, locked in their homes, sent to quarantine camps, and imprisoned for questioning the effectiveness of the experimental injections.  A third of Democrats believed that the government should remove children from homes with “unvaccinated” parents.

How did we get so close to completely destroying the Bill of Rights?  Health bureaucrats and government authorities engaged in an all-out information war against the American people.  They pushed lies into American homes just as the Greeks pushed a wooden horse into Troy.  And their attack on the American people almost worked.  Americans hated each other more than ever before and nearly tore each other to shreds.  COVID was weaponized into the kind of irrational fear that destroys civilizations.

In the end, it was not the “experts” or government ministers who prevented Western civilization’s collapse.  It was the people who saw through the propaganda and refused to submit to tyranny.  The next time governments send a Trojan Horse, just light the damn thing on fire.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 23:20

Diarrhea-Gate: One Sinaloa Farm, 345 Sick, And Two Restaurant Chains Down Double Digits

The FDA has finished tracing a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Javiana back to its source - a single grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, which entered the U.S. through Coast Citrus Distributors, a California importer that supplies restaurant customers.

In this file photo, a shopper checks the firmness of a fresh jalapeño pepper at a produce stand in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The agency asked Coast Citrus to recall the product. The company says has done so, and is no longer buying from the grower.

The CDC has counted 345 confirmed infections in 27 states, including 36 hospitalizations and no deaths. Illnesses began between June 19 and July 20. The real number is likely higher: most people who get salmonella recover at home and are never tested.

The epidemiology was unusually clear. Whole-genome sequencing suggested the cases were coming from the same source, and restaurant histories pointed investigators in the same direction. Of 191 people interviewed, 177 - 93 percent - said they had eaten at a Mexican-style restaurant in the month ending July 14.

The restaurant chains, for their part, moved before the investigation became a national story. Chipotle changed jalapeño suppliers at affected restaurants on July 20. The company says its traceability system allowed it to identify the grower and lot involved, remove the peppers and replace them with product from other farms.

Qdoba took a broader approach and stopped serving jalapeños across the chain on July 28. Regulators now say neither chain represents a current ongoing risk.

Investors were less patient. Chipotle shares fell nearly 10% Tuesday and have kept sliding, closing Friday down almost 12% on the week. Sweetgreen, which uses jalapeños in only two of its fifteen dressings and removed them Thursday, fell 8% Friday and is down more than 16% on the week.

Of note, Sweetgreen had already seen July sales weaken amid concern over an unrelated cyclospora outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce - an ingredient the chain does not even serve. Once customers start worrying about contaminated produce, distinctions between one ingredient, one supplier and one restaurant brand tend to disappear quickly.

Mexican health authorities have opened a separate inquiry, meanwhile. Officials visited a packing facility this week in Nuevo Leon, which is in a different state from the grower identified by U.S. investigators.

FILE – The Chipotle logo is displayed at a store, Aug. 13, 2025, in Newton, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 22:45

The Rarest Asset In A Fourth Turning: The Freedom To Act

Authored by Chris Macintosh via InternationalMan.com,

The Fourth Turning does not end with a return to the prior equilibrium. It ends with a new order - better or worse, depending on which forces prevail in the decisive battles of the crisis era.

Those battles are being fought now, across domains: monetary (the BRICS challenge to dollar hegemony, the rise of non-dollar settlement, the emergence of digital currencies), geopolitical (the realignment of the Middle East, the unravelling of the post-Cold War security architecture), and epistemic (the collapse of institutional trust, the fragmentation of shared information environments, the re-emergence of heterodox analysis as a credible alternative to official consensus).

What distinguishes the people who navigate Fourth Turnings successfully is not superior prediction — the future is genuinely unknowable in its specifics — but superior optionality. They hold assets in multiple forms and jurisdictions. They maintain relationships across multiple networks. They retain the cognitive independence to update their models when evidence demands it. And they have not surrendered the most fundamental asset of all: the capacity to act on their own judgement.

Agency is what the propaganda apparatus is designed to extinguish. The entire architecture of manufactured consent — from the captured universities to the curated information feeds to the credit-financed comfort — is designed to produce a population that does not exercise independent judgement because it has been conditioned not to trust its own. The Covid episode was the proof of concept: even people who did not fully believe the narrative could be induced to act as though they did.

The restoration of agency is therefore not merely a personal project; it is the foundational political act of the current historical moment. And the regulatory arbitrage it enables — moving capital, business, and oneself to jurisdictions where the apparatus has not yet fully captured the population’s trust — is not tax evasion or political cynicism.

It is the restatement, in the language of economic action, of the oldest principle of political economy: that free people, in control of their own affairs, are more productive, more innovative, and ultimately more ungovernable than any administrative apparatus can tolerate.

The Argentine farmer, the Czech entrepreneur, the Singapore manufacturer, and the Dubai trader are not united by politics or culture. They are united by a single attribute: they have not forgotten how to say no.

The Turnings theory does not predict what the new order will look like. But it does predict that the people who enter the resolution phase with real assets, genuine skills, multiple jurisdictions, and uncompromised mental models will be disproportionately represented in whatever comes next.

The compliant will have managed their risk by surrendering to the system. The independent will have managed their risk by retaining the capacity to leave it.

History will record, as it always does, that the real crisis was not the one that triggered the Fourth Turning but the one that preceded it: the slow, comfortable, credit-financed surrender of agency that made populations incapable of resisting when resistance mattered most.

*  *  *

Preserving your agency starts with understanding the forces working to limit it. Our free report reveals the economic, political, and cultural shifts now unfolding, what they could mean for your wealth and personal freedom, and how a contrarian investor is positioning to stay one step ahead. Get your free report.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 22:10

Trump-Backed "El Tigre" Takes Power In Colombia As Right-Wing Wave Sweeps Americas

Colombia entered a new political chapter as Trump-backed President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn into office Friday, pledging to reverse much of former President Gustavo Petro's nation-killing socialist agenda and to restore law and order, a free market economy, and relations with the United States.

🔥 AWESOME! New Trump-endorsed Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella is GOING OFF after his inauguration into office, he's now preparing to work closely with 47 to decimate the drug traffickers

This is a HUGE shift from left-wing former President Petro

Espriella is ready… pic.twitter.com/QrdmH0IgLm

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 7, 2026

Known by his nickname, "El Tigre" (the Tiger), De la Espriella's inauguration marks one of the most significant political shifts in Latin America in recent years. After four years of former President Petro's socialist experiment, which ended in economic decline, expanded coca cultivation, and increasingly strained relations with Washington, De la Espriella has already declared war on Marxist terror groups, earning a new security pledge from the US.

He was joined at the inauguration by several conservative presidents from across the Americas, including Argentina's Javier Milei, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa, and Chile's José Antonio Kast. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche attended as part of the U.S. delegation.

El Presidente Javier Milei junto al Presidente electo de la República de Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella. pic.twitter.com/GPjZcRZEBj

— Oficina del Presidente (@OPRArgentina) August 7, 2026

"I have come to close a long chapter of national resignation and, together with the people, embark on the most profound transformation of our destiny," De la Espriella said while speaking at the Pichincha Battalion military base in Cali.

He continued, "I send a firm message to the Colombian people: The time has come to restore order, authority, and freedom."

Camilo Guzmán, executive director of Libertank, told Fox News that the new president will be focused on rebuilding strategic ties with the US, restoring close cooperation with Israel, and adopting a tougher stance toward the authoritarian governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

"President de la Espriella inherits a house with the roof leaking and the safe empty. The order matters because almost everything he promised requires money he does not have," Guzmán said, adding that Colombia's deteriorating fiscal situation is the new administration's most immediate headwind.

"Start with the fiscal picture. It is worse than his own team seems to expect. The 2026 deficit is tracking around 6.5-6.7% of GDP, the financing gap is close to $34 billion and the implicit medium-term adjustment being left on his desk is near five points of GDP. It is also a cash problem, not only an accounting one. Before he governs, he must make payroll," he said. 

Shortly after de la Espriella took office on Friday, the US pledged $1 billion in security assistance, subject to congressional approval. The money will be used to "relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism" perpetrated by revolutionary Marxist groups who had already detonated car bombs ahead of yesterday's inauguration. If we've learned anything from America's far-left revolutionaries, it is that the far left uses political violence to project power.

El Tigre's rise to power comes amid a once-in-a-generation political shift from left-wing regimes controlling the Americas to a majority of right-wing governments closely aligned with the Trump administration. The State Department has pursued this strategy to secure the West, ensure countries align with the U.S. rather than China or Russia, and promote open and free markets over failed socialist ones.

Americas Political Map: Presidential Shift From Left To Right

Country-by-country presidential shift tracker

"For the first time in 15–20 years, the overwhelming majority of the countries in the Western Hemisphere are now led by pro-American leaders and governments since @POTUS was elected president," Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last week with President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 21:35

WNBA To Hold 'Listening Sessions' After Second Former NBA Star Says He's A Woman, Declares For Draft

Update (1800ET): WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to teams that addresses ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in women's basketball.

"I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women's basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention," Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday afternoon and obtained by The Associated Press and ESPN.

"I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the media with thoughtfulness and professionalism."

The memo said the topic will be discussed further by a task force of team presidents and general managers at a previously scheduled meeting next week.

The league's collective bargaining agreement states that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA," but it does not include any more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. 

"We recognize that this is a complex and nuanced topic, and we will continue to have important conversations with all of you and the Players Association in the weeks and months ahead," Engelbert said in the memo.

"We also plan to convene additional discussions and offer listening sessions for any team leaders who would like to participate. Your perspectives and feedback are invaluable, and I appreciate those who have already reached out to share their thoughts."

The Women's National Basketball Players Association released a statement on social media Friday that emphasized diversity and inclusion while saying the group "will not be used as political pawns."

"We embrace justice equity, diversity, and inclusion," the players' union said.

Inclusion?

Perhaps the WNBA will finally be the first group to actually define "what is a woman?"

*  *  *

As Robert Spencer reported earlier for PJMedia.com, every person who is tired of the left forcing its delusions and fantasies on the rest of us, and shaming, deplatforming, and silencing us if we refuse to go along, ought to be applauding Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom for standing up to the madness, and showing the world just how absurd it really is.

White and Freedom have declared that they’re women, at least for the purposes of professional basketball, and so they’re declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft. This is hilarious, but it’s no joke. It’s an unanswerable response to the left’s fashionable gender delusions, which have recently become a source of controversy within the WNBA, which ought to be called the WWNBA, the Woke Women’s National Basketball Association.

It all started when WNBA star Sophie Cunningham stated that she was not in favor of men pretending to be women playing women’s sports.

This sparked the usual spittle-flecked fury from the left. The WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, among others, came out in favor of delusional men competing against women. 

The WNBA players’ union issued a weaselly statement denouncing “Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people.”

Nobody had engaged in any of that, but that’s how leftists always characterize disagreement with the views they want everyone to hold.

Meanwhile, there has been talk of a WNBA team signing French basketball player Julie Tétart, who is a dude.

And so if Julie Tétart can do it, why can’t Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom? They are just as female as Tétart is. Fox News reported Friday that White said: "I'm transgender. I'm a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I'll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well," that is, in addition to Enes Kanter Freedom.

White added a correct assessment of how well a male professional would do in the WNBA: "I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy. I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do... I think it’s only fair."

White noted that the WNBA, for all its declarations of how much it rejects “hatred” of men who claim to be women, hasn’t said explicitly that men could play in the WNBA. Maybe WNBA top dogs hope that the whole thing will just go away, but it won’t.

"I think the WNBA could come out,” White said, “and make a definitive statement about guys with a pair of balls playing in the Women’s Association."

Asked if he would declare for the WNBA draft unless the league said that men could not play in the league, White responded: "Oh, no, I’m declaring. And I don’t want to be discriminated against. I want fair treatment. I’m a young, black, hopefully United States Senator that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete." White is on the ballot for the senate in Minnesota in the Republican primary; the election is coming up next Tuesday.

What if the WNBA calls White’s bluff and no team opts to sign him?

"I have to file a discrimination lawsuit, right?,” White said.

“I mean, that's, that's ridiculous. We're gonna have to have a huge legal battle about discrimination if I can't play." White says he would like to play for Cheryl Reeve: "It’s got to be the Minnesota Lynx, and I hear the coach loves a good transgender, so we’ll all be in perfect harmony.”

White expressed confidence that he would be drafted:

“How you gonna pass up on a 6-foot-8, 270-pound point forward? That’s ridiculous. I’m 260 pounds, 265 pounds, 6-foot-8, can palm a basketball — can palm a men’s basketball probably as easily as any player in history. I think I had the third-biggest hands in the modern NBA Draft Combine. So, yeah, I’m sure the women’s basketball is going to fare even easier to palm, which is a huge advantage. They’re going to have nightmares, and they should. I really feel like I’m going to be dominant."

He’s right.

If a WNBA team signs Julie Tétart or any other delusional man, the Minnesota Lynx or any other WNBA team would be foolish to pass on Royce White.

And then other teams will follow suit, until there are no women players left at all, and the WNBA is entirely filled with men and becomes a junior NBA. That will be true gender justice, won’t it, Ms. Reeve?

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 21:00

'Busted': Female Bicyclists 'Bulk Up'

Authored by Mike McDaniel via AmericanThinker.com,

I’ve been a bicyclist all my life, but because I came to serious road racing late in life, I never had the opportunity to be competitive. Oh, I had a few good bikes and wore the required attire, but I was never going to make the medal stand.

I did ride with enough serious riders to understand their compulsions. Among them was doing whatever was necessary to shave every gram of weight possible off their trusty steeds and to make them, and themselves, more aerodynamic. Shaving the legs was mandatory, but I never participated in that ritual. The seconds that might save weren’t going to make any difference for me, nor would drilling holes in this or that component.

If you know the jargon, those were the days when shifters were mounted on downtubes, and carbon fiber was in its infancy. It consisted of round frame tubes glued into metal fittings. Ten-gear cassettes and single chainrings were the hot setup. That dates me, doesn’t it?

Much has changed since those years. Frames can now be entirely made of carbon fiber and tuned for specific kinds of races.

Everything is lighter and stronger, and computer technology has made it possible to fine-tune bike and rider to an amazing degree—particularly female riders’ breasts. Breasts?! Breasts:

Something strange is happening at the Tour de France Femmes this year.

Several women’s WorldTeams have come forward claiming that some riders are padding their bras during time trials to gain an aerodynamic edge.

The Dutch website Wielerflits broke the story after hearing from multiple teams. The complaint is that certain cyclists are using extra padding to make their chests appear larger. In the low, aggressive position of a time trial, a rounder chest can act like a “fairing,” smoothing the air and reducing drag.

Oh, come on. This has to be The Babylon Bee, right? Nope. It, and the breasts, are the real thing:

Graphic: X Post

… aerodynamics expert Bert Blocken has studied the idea. (Uh-huh. I’m sure he did). 

Hey!  You don’t want to be a science denier, do you?

His research found that a proper chest fairing can cut air resistance by as much as 3.6 percent. In a race that often comes down to seconds, that kind of gain is not nothing. Over 20 or 30 kilometers, it could easily decide a stage.

That’s exactly why riders strain to do whatever they can to get that kind of advantage. Races are often won by fractions of a second, and a 3.6% aero advantage translates to double-digit seconds over longer races. That’s a substantial win, particularly in a time trial.

Due to a law enforcement neck injury, my bike racing days are over. I can’t get on the drops (the lower portion of road bike handlebars)—it’s a pain in the neck--so I ride recumbents. You never see them in sanctioned bike races because while they’re heavier than the lightest road bikes, they also have a 10-15% aerodynamic advantage, so they’re banned.

The timing of the accusations is pretty interesting. They surfaced just as the race produced one of its most memorable moments — the longest solo breakaway victory in the history of the Tour de France Femmes on Stage 3. Officials have been quick to note there is no evidence a padded bra had anything to do with that result.

In bike racing, the tiniest technical detail and rule is usually rigorously observed. Obviously, they’re taking breasts seriously, which is always wise.

Still, the story has put the entire field on notice. Extra clothing inspections are now expected ahead of the next time trial. Bra inspections. Unbelievable.

Graphic: X Post

It should be pretty easy to spot padding.

Female riders tend to be among the leanest female athletes in the world with very low body fat percentages, which means less - ahem - prominent breasts.

I also suspect the line to volunteer for that duty will be long indeed. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it for the purity of sport and the sanctity of science.

Being male and having decades of experience with observing and judging breasts, I’m uniquely qualified. Where do I apply?

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 19:50

Hunter Biden Says Father's Cancer Has Spread Further: "Very Painful And Very Debilitating"

Former President Joe Biden's prostate cancer has progressed and is causing him significant pain, his son Hunter said in a BBC interview broadcast Friday night.

Former President Joe Biden's office announced in May 2025 that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images file

"The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further," Hunter Biden told BBC Newsnight. "It's very painful. It's very debilitating in many respects."

He grew emotional discussing his father's condition. "It's really, really hard, and it's really sad to watch," he said. "I wish he would complain more, because it's not good."

Biden, 83, disclosed the diagnosis in May 2025, four months after leaving the White House. His personal office said at the time that the cancer carried a Gleason score of 9 and had already metastasized to the bone - an aggressive presentation - but added that it appeared hormone-sensitive, "which allows for effective management." He completed a course of radiation and hormone therapy that September.

BREAKING: 🇺🇸Hunter Biden announced that his dad, the former President of the US, that Joe Biden’s health is very poor:

“The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more because it’s not good.

The cancer has spread, is… pic.twitter.com/eg5iXFYvS7

— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) August 8, 2026

Hunter's account cuts against that framing. The disease has now moved beyond bone, and the pain and debilitation he describes mark a clear decline from anything the family has said publicly since. Jill Biden told NBC News in June that her husband would live with cancer for the rest of his life.

Hunter insisted his father remains engaged. "He's still out there. He's still doing his thing," he said. "He so believes in this country." He described the former president as the center of the family, and as "the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather."

Biden was the oldest man ever to serve as president, and his age was a running concern across his four years in office. He and his White House advisers have faced sustained criticism over what they knew and disclosed about his condition - criticism that intensified after his debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024 forced him out of the race weeks later.

Hunter said he watched that debate from California and was "shocked." "I knew something was wrong," he said.

In the same interview, he addressed the pardon his father issued in the final weeks of the presidency. He called it "not fair" and acknowledged it was not good for the country, while saying he remains grateful for it. "I am the most privileged person, as it relates to that, that there could possibly be," he said. "I was one of one, and I'm eternally grateful for it."

Photo: AP/Rod Lamkey Jr.  Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 19:15

Jeftovic: The "Bitcoin Only" Era Is Over...

Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower .com,

(From The Sovereign Capitalist Letter #65. I was traveling at the time of the Coinkite vulnerability, surfacing a recurring theme around how to safely balance cold storage and emergency access when on the road).

Just when I thought the sentiment couldn’t get any worse, on July 29-30 reports began to emerge of “certain” Coldcards (which were supposed to be the industry standard of self-custody cold wallets), being drained of their funds.

The reports are true, and this has enormous implications, not just for Coinkite, the Canadian company who manufactures the Coldcard, but for the entire worldview of self-custody and perhaps even for Bitcoin itself.

“Not your keys = not your coins” has been the mantra of Bitcoin since the Genesis Block. Self-custody was The Way. Anything else was for “shitcoiners”, “suitcoiners” and general retards.

It is impossible to overstate how strongly the Bitcoin in-club feels about this. If you don’t self-custody – and until this happened, on a Coldcard by Coinkite – then you were not really a “true” Bitcoiner, you were just LARPing as one. A spectator in the land of the pureblood anarcho-capitalist cyberpunks.

(Admission: my BTC wasn’t on a Coldcard – but I had recently bought new one that I was planning to migrate to after the BIP-110 and eCash forks).

When Utopia arrives… only the self-custody maxis would be admitted – all else would be chattel and serfs under various permutations of slavecoins, CBDCs and (the worst of all) paper Bitcoin.

It all sounds very eschatological and in the earlier days of my journey, I would openly admit “Bitcoin is my religion” and only be half-kidding about it.

While this bear market has been a “mild winter” in terms of price action (only about ~ 50% off the all-time high), this has been one of the more self-destructive bear cycles in terms of Bitcoin culture and the movement in general.

None of it helped by the fact that the Coldcard flaw turned out to be real.

People who had done everything right, took their BTC off of the exchange, put it into an air-gapped Coldcard powered by a 9V-battery and thought they were safe, found their life-savings irrevocably drained away in an instant…

Via r/bitcoinOver the years I’ve recommended Coldcard to my readers a few times. We were traveling when the news broke but as soon as I corroborated the vulnerability, I put out an emergency bulletin to the mailing list.

At first it appeared as though the flaw was limited to older Mk2 and Mk3 models, but over the next couple of days Mk4 and Q1 series were also being drained – it just takes more computing power, and thus time, to crack the entropy on the later models.

What Happened – The Coldcard Firmware Flaw

As everyone here knows, a Bitcoin wallet address is a very long cryptographic private key that can be transmitted or stored in a human readable form via a 12- or 24-word seed phrase, consisting of words pulled from a word list (BIP-39) of possible values.

The words themselves are actually unimportant – they’re just there for humans to be able to read the values. The discrete value they comprise is what matters.

And because a given wallet address is secured by a private key derived from a seed-phrase, those words must be in order.

That makes the universe of possible values enormous:

• 12 words gives 2¹²⁸ possible valid phrases

• 24 words gives 2²⁵⁶ possible valid phrases

A 12-word seed space is a vastly larger number than every grain of sand on Earth or every star we can see in the observable universe.

A 24-word seed space is larger than the number of atoms in the entire galaxy, and approaches (but is generally a bit smaller than) the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe.

But that’s only if those words are generated from a truly random seed (entropy source).

Take an extreme example: simply picking the first 12 or 24 words from the BIP-39 word list isn’t random, and a wallet protected by such a seed phrase would be cracked in short order by a brute force computer.

The Coldcard ships with an onboard RNG (Random Number Generator) to generate your seed phrase, however their own documentation states that to achieve maximum entropy (randomness), you should also add some “external entropy” such as dice rolls – real, actual physical dice, rolled, 50 or 100 times – combined with the onboard RNG for maximal security.

Many people did not roll the dice, assuming that the onboard RNG would provide more than enough entropy for a secure seed phrase (remember those numbers above).

The problem was in Coldcard’s firmware itself, where the RNG generator turned out to be bypassed – resulting in extremely weak entropy – and thus, weak seed phrases.

This bug has been sitting there since November 2021 (the Coldcard firmware is open source/viewable),

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

The follow-up tweet lays out what went wrong in the Mk4 and Q series:

“Mk4, Q, and Mk5 attempt to compensate at boot with secure-element input, but the reseed truncates it to 32 bits, sharply limiting the secret entropy it contributes – far below what wallets should have.”

It later came out that it looks like a developer simply disabled the RNG to workaround some compiler errors:

A new technical analysis by Core-Lightning dev ddustin suggests the 2021 COLDCARD vulnerability may have started while a developer was trying to connect three layers of the firmware: the wallet’s Python code, MicroPython’s C code, and the STM32 hardware random number generator.

The custom code appears to have conflicted with MicroPython’s existing implementation, likely triggering a compiler error.

The evidence suggests the developer then disabled the hardware RNG by setting MICROPY_HW_ENABLE_RNG to 0, allowing the firmware to compile.

That change had an unintended consequence. When users created new wallets, the firmware no longer used the hardware random number generator. Instead, it fell back to MicroPython’s much weaker Yasmarang software random number generator.

There are people out there implying that any wallets drained are somehow on the Coldcard owners, because they didn’t add enough external entropy (read: they didn’t do enough dice rolls, or any dice rolls).

This is a fucking retarded take. It actually makes my blood boil.

No other Bitcoin hardware wallet requires the user to provide external entropy as a condition of the fucking thing working.

People buy these wallets because they purport to be an ultra-secure, self-contained Swiss-Bank-in-your-pocket solution for escaping the fiat treadmill and putting your life savings beyond the reach of The State. Full stop.

There is no asterisk beside those claims that “you have to jiggle your body and roll a bunch of dice dozens of times while waving a dead chicken over your head to add entropy or it won’t work”.

Except, on a Coldcard

go on... say it pic.twitter.com/JZS22uznfF

— Mark E. Jeftovic (@jeftovic) August 2, 2026

Actions to take: If you have a Coldcard, regardless of how you set it up – I would move all of my funds out of it.

What Does this mean for Self-Custody and for Bitcoin?

Indeed. That is the question.

I have been thinking long and hard about this, not to mention conducting a deep dive into the entropy generation on other wallets.

The gist is this:

Every other wallet I came across uses well-known methods for generating entropy that come off of the device itself (such as the the o/s level Cryptographically Secure Pseudorandom Number Generator – CSPRNG) and many of them combine that with several other sources of entropy – any given computing environment offers a few of those (clock speed jitter, etc), and in some cases, dedicated chips just for entropy generation.

But this still had me rattled: why bother worrying about a quantum attack on SHA-256 in 5 or 50 years, when you can just crack the entropy using Fable or Opus 5.6-sol today?

Fortunately, it turns out that is not the case. The Coldcard vulnerability was entirely exploitable, and discoverable, because of a series of bad decisions and programming bugs. It was not a case that entropy had been cracked, it was that insufficient entropy was generated in the first place.

This X post from another wallet provider lays out the reasons why, years ago, Coinkite switched their open-source licensing scheme as well as their own code in the Coldcard firmware – and how by doing so they set the stage for the disaster unfolding in front of our eyes today.

Also noting that @nvk (Coinkite’s CEO) deleted the tweets referenced above and has been dutifully scrubbing his timeline since all this broke out. Absolutely abysmal leadership.

All this to say – (because it bears repeating): the issue is not that AI could crack the entropy used to generate seed phrases. That would be game-over for Bitcoin.

What happened instead was that AI was used (at least once it became known that there was an exploit to be found) to uncover a flaw in entropy generation.

Very different.

That means the industry-standard wallets (Trezor, Bitkey, and software ones like Sparrow or Electrum) are fine – and I still feel OK typing that – in fact more so, after the rabbit hole I’ve been down these last 48 hours.

But there are some practical takeaways now, and some possibly unpleasant ramifications, at least for me, and I’ll lay them out frankly here, in no particular order:

1. Multi-sig self-custody is now the bare minimum.

   Wallets that require multiple signatures to spend – if you are handling it all yourself, you can still do solo multi-sig, where you require two-of-three signatures to originate an outbound transaction.What I will probably end up doing is prepping some docs or tutorials on getting that set up.

2. Institutional custody is a serious option, which should be considered.

   But it comes with trade-offs, one of which is that it’s very difficult to create a multi-generational custodial entity in a nascent space. You almost by definition need to fuse some venerable old tradfi institutions with cypherpunks.The reality is the institutions best equipped or positioned to do this, are not “Bitcoin-only”, which seems to matter to the hardcore maxis.But there’s another problem with that:

3. Most Bitcoin-only businesses are on their way to bankruptcy.

   If not this bear cycle, then the next one.This is because in the overall scheme of things, not enough people actually give a shit about Bitcoin to make a “Bitcoin-only” business viable over the long haul. This includes as many as 90% of the people (total guesstimate) who are actually allocated to Bitcoin.Most of them couldn’t care less about self-custody, retiring their bloodline, “everything divided by 21 million”, escaping the state, or any of the long string of maximalist purity tests.

   They want a double-digit CAGR, and to catch the next bull market updraft. That’s it. That’s the majority of people invested into Bitcoin. Reality check.

4. ETFs are fine.

   This needs to be said. Again, there are trade-offs (surprise!):You’ll miss out on the proceeds of any forks (the ETF sponsor will pocket those) and you’re very much inside the financial system. But they are a way to capture the upside of Bitcoin, hold for the long term, with total liquidity.

5. The right exchanges are also fine.

   Another blasphemy but it’s true. One thing I’ve been saying for years is that most people don’t want the hassles associated with self-custody. It’s a high bar and what most people really want is “PayPal for crypto”. And notice I didn’t say “Bitcoin”, I said “crypto” – another no-no word for “True Bitcoiners”, but the reality is that the mass adoption underway is of crypto.

   Bitcoin just happens to be a subset of that.I can envision setups where of the total allocation in a portfolio to Bitcoin, the majority is held via ETFs, while self-custody BTC is akin to our “Bug-out bag” component, along with a lightning wallet loaded up with some “walking around money”.

6. Bitcoin is not the apex asset.

    I have been wrong about this. It’s still a category-of-one in the digital asset space, it’s still digital sound money and a store of value, but it’s just another asset class across the possible choices one can allocate into.The maxi proposition that allocating to anything other than Bitcoin in one’s investments or savings is “retarded” is itself retarded. I remember seeing a tweet some time ago that just broke my heart, where some pleb took his daughter to Burger King for her fifth or sixth birthday and was thrilled that she understood why instead of buying her a birthday present he bought some Bitcoin.Horrible parenting. Buy your five-year-old a birthday present. Pay them for chores in Bitcoin. Don’t take them to Burger King, ever. Grow the fuck up. You’re supposed to be the adult here.

   The apex asset is business ownership. We can talk more about this, and we will.

7. Being 100% invested in Bitcoin or having all your life savings in Bitcoin is a mistake.

   Another mistake of mine, in the sense where I proudly declared that easyDNS holds 100% of its retained earnings in BTC. Others hold the sum total of their life savings in Bitcoin.This is a big mistake – which anybody who just had their life savings drained in under 20 seconds in this episode understands all too viscerally.

   Speaking for myself, I will be adjusting my allocation. Probably gradually, because I do think we’re “at bottom” in this cycle, so as we climb out of this bear market, I will be diversifying – likely more aggressively into cashflow-producing businesses.

   I’ll do this through a combination of collateralization in a (hopefully) up-trending market, and sales under the right circumstances.

   There are a couple of special situations I’m working on where it feels like the most sensible move is to create an investment partnership – so I will be cashing out some chips to seed that fund.

   I’m glad I still have gold and numerous investments outside of the Bitcoin and even crypto space. I’m also looking at more real estate. The market is in the toilet now so it’s a good time to buy – and this actually brings us to an important point:

   The Bitcoin maxi axiom that it’s always a good time to buy, never a good time to sell, and that Bitcoin is the only investable asset, forsaking all others, has to be abandoned by anybody who is serious about building wealth.

   I don’t care about passing the Bitcoin purity tests. Maybe I did in the past, which was also a mistake.

   Remember when Luke Gromen sold Bitcoin right near the top of the cycle and everybody in the Bitcoin space called him an idiot?

   Who are the idiots now?

   I’ll give you one guess.

   I’m not saying we should have sold when Luke Gromen sold, I’m observing that a professional investor applied his framework and made a determination on when he should sell – and that gave him optionality that none of us “pureblood Bitcoiners” have, as long as we’re trapped in this “never sell” / Bitcoin-only mentality.

Bitcoin maximalism is over. Bitcoin "culture" is over. Bitcoin influencers are over. Every popular hardcore Bitcoin figure has disgraced themself in some way.

Bitcoin will remain, beneficially stripped of the cult around it.

— nic carter (@nic_carter) August 2, 2026

If I could sum up the above list in one pithy tweet, it would be the opening image of this month’s edition, by way of Nic Carter, who also found himself excommunicated from The Bitcoin Cathedral for indulging in shitcoinery.

Sign up for the Bombthrower mailing list here and get an executive summary of my new book: The Blueprint Survive & Thrive In An Overclocked Timeline. Sovereign Capitalist members get early access to the full book here.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 18:40

Another Sign Of The Times: 'F**k ICE'

Authored by Thaddeus McCotter via American Greatness,

Strolling through a major American urban metropolis, I noticed that the tightly packed homes and squat tri-level apartments and condos had tiny, browning “natural gardens” pocked with the usual virtue-signaling lawn signs setting forth their progressive secular creed’s commandments: “kindness always,” “hate has no home here,” etc.

Yet amidst this self-proclaimed bastion of love and tolerance, I quickly spied an ostensibly contradictory placard in many residential windows and, in fact, on the bumpers of many cars, both rust buckets and some upscale, socially responsible electric ones. Indeed, this sentiment was so prevalent that the host of a YouTube video touring the city’s neighborhoods casually expressed it as an aside and apologized for not stating it in a prior video.

What was this urgent statement needing to be publicly proclaimed to one and all by any and all means fair and foul?

It was “F— ICE.”

Being literal, initially the prospect left me cold.

Then I wondered if the sign maker had misspelled “DEI.”

However, upon reflection, I realized that ICE was the acronym for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Despite the other lawn signs professing kindness, I immediately understood the f— in question was not to be construed as an act of love. Further, the people sticking these placards in their windows and onto their bumpers are clearly not an “ally” of ICE.

“F— ICE” did not have the ring of “Aux Armes!” or “¡No pasarán!” or even “земля мира и хлеб!” In fairness, though, I did notice the “F— ICE” sign. But I also would have noticed a dead skunk glued to a window or squished on a bumper.

In a sign of the times, once more, public profanity was conflated with sincerity and earnestness—and, of course, “hipness” and “edginess”; and, once again, the consequences of such selfish public virtue-signaling were ignored, if they were ever contemplated at all.

Did such virtue-signaling regressives understand their vehement, vulgar opposition could help foster dangerous and deadly attacks upon ICE agents whose only “crime” was enforcing the duly enacted laws of the United States? Or that it could help foment equally dangerous and deadly confrontations between ICE agents, illegal immigrants, and bystanders who deliberately interfere with agents in the course of their duties?

Did they understand that by abetting open borders they helped diminish and demean the hard work and sacrifices made by legal immigrants to the country? Or that in aiding illegal immigration (and usually opposing assimilation) they harm legal immigrants by diminishing their public safety, lowering wages and job opportunities, and straining the social safety net resources available to those who need them?

Perhaps they were unaware Zeale reported that, in the aftermath of violence regarding the enforcement of American immigration laws, two Catholic bishops did, in fact, grapple with the issue and concluded:

Acts that diminish or disregard the dignity of any person or group of people should never be normalized in our society,” Bishop Daniel Garcia and Bishop Brendan Cahill wrote in a July 20 pastoral reflection published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). “The dehumanization of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, is one such example of this; the vilification of law enforcement officers is yet another.

As the reporter, Elizabeth Ervin, makes clear, the two bishops are certainly not ICE apologists. Acknowledging their “pastoral concerns are distinct from what the civil law itself may permit,” the pair of clerics expressed their opposition to racial profiling and called for reforming immigration enforcement to ensure “accountability, transparency, and justice.”

Nonetheless, the bishops’ support for migrants regardless of their status and for reforming immigration enforcement did not lead them to demonize ICE agents. On the contrary: “We continue to affirm the legitimate role of civil authorities to implement the law in a humane manner and with respect for fundamental human rights, including the rights to life and due process. The power of the state must always be exercised within the limits of the moral law.”

Whatever one’s view of immigration and border security, only the worst among us can fail to recognize the above is an example of “civility.” And engaging in civil discourse with those who disagree with you is a far more conducive way to achieve change and consensus than spouting profanity in public to preen for your allies and alienate everyone else.

As the bishops remind us, “We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric, racial prejudice, and violence and for a renewed commitment to recognizing the inherent dignity of every person as a child of God.”

Sure, that might not fit on a windowsill or below a trunk, but that is no matter. Such truth is meant to be etched in the heart.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 17:30

Ukrainian Drone With Huge Explosive Payload Hits Bulgaria Near Vital Gas Pipeline

A major border and aerial incident has occurred between Ukraine and Bulgaria, and Bulgarian officials are outraged and demanding answers - ironically on the heels of a political shift regarding the Ukraine war wherein Sofia has stopped giving weaponry, citing its own stockpile shortages.

A Ukrainian drone on Saturday breached Bulgaria's airspace and directly endangered vital energy infrastructure upon exploding in Bulgarian territory, regional media reports. These types of breaches of neighboring states' territories and spillover from the Ukraine war has been happening with increased regularity of late.

File image via Reuters

Bulgaria's defense ministry quickly pointed the finger at Kiev, saying the destroyed drone debris points to a weapon "widely used by the Ukrainian military."

Despite the two countries by and large being 'friendly' - Bulgaria has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador for a meeting scheduled for Monday in response, AFP reports.

The Ukrainian government is seeking to defuse the situation, saying it remains "in close contact with the Bulgarian side to clarify the circumstances" of the incident. "We can say with certainty that the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not intentionally direct any assets toward Bulgaria," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi said, noting that these incidents ultimately arise from the Russian invasion.

Thankfully there were no casualties, however...

According to Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, the drone entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania before exploding 1,000 metres from a compressor station of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, near the former Kardam border checkpoint between the two countries.

"Noise made by the drone was detected by Romanian border police, and a loud explosion was subsequently heard by the 'General Toshevo' border police patrol," he told a press conference.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has expressed the main concern, saying the explosive payload the UAV carried was "significant". But so far, Bulgarian officials have agreed that the incident does not look intentional.

Indeed, Ukraine insists it did not 'intentionally' target Bulgaria, an Eastern European NATO-member country, which Kiev has long sought to curry favor with.

Russian drones have also on numerous occasions breached European airspace. In prior recent instances of drones entering neighboring airspace, particularly in Baltic countries and also Poland, NATO jets were scrambled - and in some cases drones are safely brought down via electronic intercept means.

Russia has more frequently been accused of sending drones into EU airspace, after which threats & accusations fly from NATO 'eastern flank' leaders:

Looks like Russia tried to blow up a pipeline in Bulgaria with a drone today.

Moscow has ramped up its terror campaign in the EU with 6 incidents in 2 weeks:

🇷🇴 Romania - Fighter jets shoot down Russian Shahed drones over Romanian airspace 3 days in a row (July 24-26)

🇵🇱… pic.twitter.com/JwRB3Zf7S7

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 8, 2026

Each instance creates new tensions between Russia and NATO, and the typical accusations and threats then fly. The Kremlin has of late been especially alarmed at the Trump administration transferring 5,000 US troops from Germany to Poland, near Russia's doorstep. But again, some of these drones in recent instances were found to be Ukrainian.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 16:55

Student Loan Payments Are Spiking: What Changed On July 1 And What Borrowers Over 50 Should Do

Authored by Adam H. Douglas via The Epoch Times,

If you carry federal student loans, July 1, 2026, redrew your map. With last year's tax law changes taking effect on that date, the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan was dismantled, and servicers began notifying millions of borrowers to pick a new repayment plan or have one picked for them.

The end of the SAVE plan could raise your student loan payments unless you act before your 90-day deadline. zimmytws/shutterstock

For borrowers over 50, and especially Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (Parent PLUS) holders, the wrong move, or no move, can push payments up sharply at exactly the stage of life when income stops growing.

Here is what changed and what to do about it.

Quick Answer: The SAVE Plan Is Ending. What Should You Do?

Starting July 1, servicers began sending SAVE borrowers notices giving them 90 days to choose a different repayment plan. For most older borrowers, the realistic choices are Income-Based Repayment (IBR), which is staying available for loans taken before July 2026, or the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). If you do nothing inside your 90-day window, you will be placed automatically into a standard plan, which usually carries the highest monthly payment. Find your notice, date your deadline, and run your numbers at StudentAid.gov before the clock runs out.

The Details: What Changed on July 1

The new rules split borrowers into two tracks.

• If all your loans predate July 1, 2026, you keep most of your current options and gain access to RAP.
• If you take out any new loan or consolidate after that date, your entire balance is limited to just two plans: RAP or the new Tiered Standard Plan.

One point worth knowing: Borrowers who enroll in automatic debit can now receive a temporary 1 percent interest rate reduction.

Choosing Between IBR and RAP After Age 50

For a borrower near retirement, the comparison is monthly relief versus the finish line.

RAP can produce lower payments for some borrowers, includes an interest subsidy so on-time payers see their principal fall, and never exceeds 10 percent of adjusted gross income.

But its forgiveness horizon is 30 years; time in RAP does not count toward IBR forgiveness if you later switch, and its brackets are not indexed for inflation, so modest income bumps can raise payments.

IBR keeps the shorter 20-to-25-year forgiveness path, which matters if you already have a decade of qualifying payments banked. Run both through the Loan Simulator before deciding.

What Default Actually Costs After 50

The reason to act is visible in the data.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that roughly 1 million borrowers defaulted in the last quarter of 2025, and another 2.6 million did so in the first quarter of 2026. The average newly defaulted borrower is nearly 40 years old and was not behind on these loans before the pandemic.

Credit scores for defaulted borrowers dropped 91 points on average, from 567 to 476.

For a younger worker, default is a setback. After 50, it is a direct threat to retirement income, because the federal government collects in ways no private lender can:

• Wage garnishment of up to 15 percent of your disposable pay, without a court judgment.
• Tax refund seizure through the Treasury Offset Program.
• Social Security offset of up to 15 percent of your benefit. The law's protected floor of $750 per month has not been adjusted for inflation in decades, so it protects far less than it once did.

One nuance: Collections on defaulted loans are currently suspended, with no announced restart date, but defaults are still being reported to credit bureaus during the pause. Consider this a window to fix your situation.

If you are already in default, the two exits are rehabilitation, which requires nine on-time payments, and consolidation. Consider starting either now, while collections remain paused.

The Parent PLUS Problem

Parent PLUS borrowers face the hardest news. Under the new rules, the loans are largely shut out of income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness unless the parent's loans were consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan that disbursed on or before June 30, 2026. That window has closed.

If you consolidated in time, protect what you secured: Stay enrolled, recertify on schedule, and know that ICR sunsets in 2028, so a transition is coming.

If you did not, your realistic path is a standard, graduated, or extended plan, which means building the payment into your retirement budget rather than hoping it shrinks. Either way, call your servicer, confirm which plans your loans qualify for, and ask about hardship options before missing a payment.

Your Next Five Moves

• Log in to StudentAid.gov and confirm your servicer and contact information, since notices arrive by email or portal message.
• Find your transition notice and write down your 90-day deadline.
• Run your loans through the Loan Simulator and compare IBR and RAP side by side.
• Apply for your chosen plan well before the deadline, and keep confirmation of your application.
• If you are delinquent or in default, contact your servicer this week. The nine-month line between delinquency and default is the one that triggers everything above.

FAQs About Student Loan Changes July 2026 What Happens if I Ignore the Notice From My Servicer?

You will be placed automatically into a standard repayment plan once your 90-day window closes. Standard plans carry fixed payments that are typically the highest monthly amount charged, with no connection to your income and no path to forgiveness. For a borrower on a fixed retirement income, that payment shock is exactly what the notice period exists to prevent. Choosing a plan yourself, even imperfectly, almost always beats the default placement.

Can Social Security Really Be Garnished for Student Loans?

Yes. Federal law allows an offset of up to 15 percent of Social Security benefits for defaulted federal student loans, and the protected monthly floor of $750 was set decades ago and never adjusted for inflation. Offsets, along with other collections on defaulted loans, are currently suspended without an announced restart date. That pause is an opportunity to cure a default through rehabilitation or consolidation before collections resume, not a reason to wait.

Is RAP or IBR Better for Someone Near Retirement?

It depends on your history. If you have years of qualifying payments already banked, IBR's 20-to-25-year forgiveness timeline may be within reach, and switching to RAP would restart a 30-year clock that most borrowers over 50 will never, or barely, finish. If your payments under IBR would be unaffordable, RAP's income-based formula and interest subsidy may offer relief. Run both scenarios in the Loan Simulator and compare the monthly payment against the forgiveness date.

I Already Defaulted. Is It Too Late?

No. With collections suspended, this is the best window you will get. Loan rehabilitation requires nine on-time, income-based payments and removes the default from your credit report. Consolidation out of default can work faster but leaves the default notation in place. Contact the Education Department's Default Resolution Group to start either one, and act before collections restart, because garnishment and benefit offsets become possible once they do.

The Epoch Times copyright © 2026. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 16:20

Iran Insists US Must Meet Stringent List Of Demands Before Hormuz Opens

As expected, Iran is pressing hard to extract from Washington everything it can get - at a moment the Trump White House seems to be backing down from a heighted war over the Strait of Hormuz, given the serious risk of settling into a another years-long quagmire in the Middle East.

The US administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, has appeared to back the Iran-Oman deal for the opening of the Strait, with President Trump and his officials having remained surprisingly quiet even as it has emerged that the deal outline is wholly favorable to Tehran's conditions.

For example, as we've detailed Iran announced Friday that under the 'finalized' Oman-Iran scheme and 'deal' for management of the Hormuz Strait that "enemy countries" (read: US and Israel) may only transit the waterway after lifting sanctions and paying compensation for the war. US and Israeli-linked ships are currently banned and will be fired upon, Iran has warned.

The White House stayed mum even after that, and didn't openly push back - nor did Trump fire off any angry Truth Social messages, but focused on some random domestic issues Friday. This even as there was a Friday story in Reuters saying that Washington even plans to lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports once the Oman deal is finalized:

"There ​is progress between Oman ​and Iran on the Strait, and ‌we ⁠expect a deal soon," the official said. "Once the deal is announced to restore commercial ​shipping ​without ⁠impediments, the United States will lift the blockade ​of Iranian ports."

And now the Iranians are piling on the demands even more, with on Saturday the NY Times reporting on the country's top Iranian national security official's remarks. The security chief has laid out a list of demands and stern set of further conditions.

"Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, issued a statement carried by state media laying out multiple requirements for reopening the strait," reports the Times.

"He called for the United States to lift its naval blockade and sanctions on Iran, withdraw the U.S. military from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets, as well as end attacks on Iran's allies in the region and threats against the country,"

While other Iranian officials have voiced similar demands, this could represent the ascendancy of the Islamic Republic's so-called hardline faction within the context of the Oman negotiations. Zolghadr stated "These are the demands of the Iranian people who have been shouting for it relentlessly in the squares and streets for one hundred and sixty days."

Iran state media has listed them out as follows (machine translation):

1. Never threaten Iran with any language or insult the sanctities of this nation.

2. End the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq forever.

3. Lift the naval blockade and withdraw its military forces (naval and air) from around Iran.

4. Pay the damages of the two wars of aggression and imposition on Iran without any reduction or reduction.

5. Lift the cruel and illegal sanctions against the Iranian nation.

6. Unconditionally release the frozen and stolen assets of the Iranian people.

The NY Times says there's been no immediate response from the White House when it requested comment; however, it must be remembered that the US was slapping yet more sanctions on Iran within only the last several days.

While the dropping of sanctions seems realistic as part of a deal to end the war, getting the Trump administration to agree to pay compensation for the many billions of dollars in damage done is a very tall ask. But the Iranians no doubt now smell weakness and blood in the water, as the US bombs have fallen silent for over a week at this point, and after Trump reversed course (more TACO) last weekend on the planned 'harder' strikes.

Bessent strongly suggested in an interview published Friday that the Hormuz Strait's reopening was imminent, delivered by a deal that would be finalized 'today or tomorrow'. 

And yet, the Times underscores that:

Even before Mr. Zolghadr’s statement, Iranian officials had hinted on Saturday that the reopening of the strait was not imminent. Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said that reopening the strait was “not contingent on the Iran-Oman negotiations.”

Iran is in essence saying this ain't over & wants to extract its pound of flesh, also to ensure it is never attacked again...

Trump is not going to be able to walk away from his Iran war at his own choosing. He still has no idea the world of shit he’s in, unfortunately we’re all in. https://t.co/Gdd4FTpIDW

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) August 8, 2026

Additionally, on Saturday Iran's army spokesman Amir Akraminia has been quoted by Al Jazeera as saying Iran's new protocols in the Strait of Hormuz are "irreversible" and shall not be thwarted by the US. "The United States has no choice but to accept the existing situation; otherwise, it will incur costs far greater than those it has faced in the past," Akraminia said.

In perhaps a good cop, bad cop approach to Washington, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has meanwhile issued a more balanced, less maximalist statement. He expressed that "the war must end at some point, and that his country is determined to adopt the memorandum of understanding as a basis, provided the US abandons the atmosphere of distrust it has created."

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 15:45

How The UAE Has Kept Its Oil Flowing Through Hormuz

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

The United Arab Emirates has managed to boost its oil exports to pre-crisis levels as early as June, as it has kept pushing crude through the Strait of Hormuz and outside it.  

The UAE, which left OPEC on May 1, has found workarounds to the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz. It has been shuttling crude through the chokepoint to load it on larger vessels outside the Strait, maximizing the use of its onshore pipeline to ship crude from the west to the east of the country, bypassing Hormuz, and shipping tankers through the Strait in dark mode.  

The UAE has managed to ship over June and July the most crude oil out of the Strait of Hormuz than any other Gulf producer, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

The UAE has also issued an unprecedented number of tenders to sell cargoes of millions of barrels of crude oil in recent weeks.

At the end of July, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ADNOC issued its seventh tender offering crude from the United Arab Emirates since the beginning of June, expecting to sell millions of barrels of oil between August and October, both from within and outside the Persian Gulf.

ADNOC was offering cargo loadings from the UAE ports Zirku and Das Island inside the Persian Gulf, as well as the port of Fujairah outside the Gulf, or via ship-to-ship transfers offshore Fujairah or Malaysia.

The UAE is estimated to have produced 4.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in June, its highest output ever.

The UAE’s crude oil production jumped from 3.3 million bpd in May to 4.1 million bpd in June after the country left OPEC effective May 1, started raising output, and managed to sneak a lot of exports out of the Middle East even as the Strait of Hormuz was mostly blockaded for the first half of June, according to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The UAE has sought to adapt to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by sneaking tankers in dark mode through the Strait and increasingly offering to sell many of its crude grades for loading offshore Fujairah and at Sohar in Oman, outside the Strait.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 15:10

Judge Denies Southern Poverty Law Center's Bid To Dismiss DOJ Indictment

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on Aug. 7 rejected the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) bid to dismiss charges brought by the Justice Department, saying the nonprofit failed to show that the prosecution against it was vindictive.

The department indicted the SPLC in April on 11 counts of wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The organization was accused of defrauding donors by funneling millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and hate groups that it publicly opposed.

The SPLC filed a motion on May 26 seeking dismissal of the charges, arguing the indictment was vindictive and that the administration targeted it for exercising its First Amendment right to identify, report on, and criticize extremist hate groups.

U.S. District Judge Emily Marks rejected the motion after finding that the SPLC failed to provide evidence showing that prosecutors involved in the case were motivated by animus and that such animus had led to the organization’s prosecution.

“Our Republic recognizes different venues to vindicate different wrongs; federal courts are not the proper forum for airing political grievances. For that reason, the doctrine of vindictive prosecution places a heavy burden on the accused, and decades of precedent counsels against its application here.

“Two things can be true at once: critics are not constitutionally immunized solely because they speak frequently and prosecutorial decisions may be second guessed - if they evince some evidence of animus,” Marks wrote in a 36-page order.

The Epoch Times has reached out to both the SPLC and the Justice Department for comments and did not receive a response by publication time.

The indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama accused the SPLC of secretly funneling more than $3 million in donated funds to leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance, between 2014 and 2023.

The indictment alleged that donated money, which was supposed to dismantle violent extremist groups, actually was being used, in part, to pay and benefit leaders in the exact groups the nonprofit alleged it was trying to take down.

“Donors gave their money believing they were supporting the fight against violent extremism,” Kevin Davidson, then-acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, said in an April 21 statement.

“That kind of deception undermines public trust and social cohesion.”

The SPLC denied the allegations and entered not guilty pleas on July 7. The nonprofit said in a May 26 motion that the prosecution was “driven by the White House and FBI leadership’s retribution campaign.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 14:00

Existing Power Plants Are "Bedrock" In Supplying Data Centers: Constellation CEO

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive.com

Despite the Ratepayer Protection Pledge’s call for planned data centers to supply their own new generation, existing power plants will play a major role in supplying them with power, according to Joseph Dominguez, Constellation president and CEO.

“We’re never going to build this economy if … we have to wait for new power plants to be built before we can connect any data center,” Dominguez said Thursday during an earnings conference call. “The bedrock of building out at least this early phase of the data economy is going to rely heavily, in my view, on existing generation.”

Dominguez said there is significant available capacity in the transmission and generation system that can serve consumers more than 99% of all hours in a year.

“We have a peak capacity concern, not an energy concern,” he said. “The secret sauce here is to deal with the handful of peak hours that present reliability concerns, and at the same time to harvest the stranded capacity that exists every other hour of the year.”

The peak periods can be managed with batteries, demand response and peaking resources, according to Dominguez.

“[Potential customers] still have to figure out not just the peak, but what they’re doing every other hour of the year,” he said. “That’s where our fleet becomes extraordinarily valuable because it’s a fixed-price, clean energy resource that they could count on for decades.”

Constellation Energy’s 2,347-MW Byron nuclear power plant near Byron, Ill. The Baltimore-based company’s nuclear fleet could be increased by 1.1 GW through uprates, according to an Aug. 6, 2026, earnings presentation

The Baltimore-based independent power producer owns about 55 GW of generation, including about 22 GW of nuclear capacity.

Constellation has several projects that are tied to data centers that have been affected by the pause in Texas’ Batch Zero interconnection process, according to Dominguez.

The company doubts the state’s audit of proposed data centers will take long.

“All these folks, particularly coming into the midterm elections, they want to be responsive to their constituents, and Gov. [Greg] Abbott has asked for some pretty reasonable information to be included as part of Batch Zero,” Dave Dardis, chief of external affairs and growth officer, said on the conference call.

With large load interconnection requests — mostly data centers — totaling about 474 GW, Abbott asked that planned data centers provide information about their power supplies, expected electric and water use, and amount of public financial assistance.

The information can be provided quickly, and Constellation doubts there will be a “meaningful delay,” according to Dardis.

“We see this as a temporary measure that we think is manageable by the industry,” he said.

By the numbers: Constellation Energy Q2 ’26

• $860M: The sale price for LS Power’s planned purchase of Constellation’s 606-MW, gas-fired Brazos Valley power plant in Texas.
• ~1.1 GW: Potential uprates for Constellation’s 22-GW nuclear fleet.
• $2.55/share: Second-quarter adjusted operating earnings, up from $1.91/share a year ago, driven by the Calpine purchase, higher capacity revenue and other factors.

Meanwhile, Constellation expects the currently low wholesale power prices in ERCOT will rebound when data centers start coming online, according to Dominguez.

Battery storage and other resources are driving down electricity prices by coming online before the expected load, he said.

“The market will start to tighten up as data centers get built, and you start to see the market come into more or less equilibrium,” Dominguez said.

Also in Texas, after a bidding process, Constellation sold its 606-MW gas-fired Brazos Valley power plant to LS Power for $860 million, or about $1,420/kW.

“It was clear from a very competitive process that buyers recognize the long-term value of gas-fired assets with the potential for even higher utilization rates,” Shane Smith, Constellation CFO, said.

Once approved, the power plant sale will satisfy the Constellations settlement obligations for its Calpine purchase, he said.

The assets that Constellation had to sell under the agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice are expected to produce about $5.9 billion in gross proceeds, he said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 12:50

Iran's Economy Is In Shambles As War Takes Its Toll

Despite the bluster from Iranian officials on social media, it should come as no surprise that the country is not doing well economically. From the beginning of the conflict to current day, Iran has been dealt an estimated $270 billion to $300 billion in total damage due to a steady barrage of strikes, including numerous infrastructure targets from bridges, highways, railways, airports, etc. 

The three-month-long US blockade on Iran's oil exports have also taken a toll, with national oil output dropping from 2.2 million bpd to less than 300,000 bpd.  It is likely that there has been some long term damage to the regime's oil wells and they have lost approximately $6 billion in oil revenues so far.      

With a general information blackout in place, getting a proper estimation of the damages can be difficult.  However, in recent months many Iranian leaders and media sources have indicated a dangerous shift in the stability of the country.  The situation has become so volatile that citizens are reportedly turning to theft in order to get their hands on basic necessities including food.  

Iranian newspaper Jahan-e Sanat has reported increased theft of basic groceries over recent months, with store workers linking the trend to rising poverty. Related reports say meat is in short supply, there is reduced consumption of staples, subsidy shortfalls, and broader poverty pressures.

Analysts note that while full state collapse or famine has not yet occurred, the combination of high food inflation, currency weakness and job losses is placing severe strain on households.  Iran's President, Masoud Pezeshkian, seemed to confirm the decline last week when he noted that the country was facing economic “difficulties and problems,” while claiming the enemy was trying to provoke protests.

At Iran’s 33rd Conference on Monetary and Banking Policies (around June 2026), he questioned why people wake up to find their purchasing power has fallen and stated there are “hundreds of ways to overcome the economic impasse.” He noted that policymakers take people’s money and "return it with reduced value."

Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati presented a recovery roadmap and acknowledged an ongoing GDP contraction. He stated that “the combination of war and cruel sanctions has posed serious challenges to the country’s economy. Most importantly, people’s livelihoods have been severely affected because various sectors of the economy have been impacted by sanctions.”

He also cited inflation at around 53%, which appears to be a underestimation of the real currency destruction taking place.

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani has discussed infrastructure damage (e.g., bridges, tunnels, gas and electricity capacity losses), adjustments to gasoline rations, and challenges with subsidy payments disrupted by banking issues or cyberattacks.  

These admissions are often wrapped in claims of resiliency despite the crisis, but the biggest danger (inflation) has yet to fully play out.  SCI data for the Persian month of Khordad (ending ~June 21, 2026) showed overall year-on-year inflation of 88.6% (up from pre-escalation levels around 50%). Food inflation reached 134%, with oils/fats  at 278%, red meat/poultry at 178%, and bread/cereals at nearly 139%.

The rial hit record lows of around 1.5–1.9 million per USD at various points during the war. This has amplified import costs and eroded purchasing power.   

Crippling infrastructure damage and currency devaluation might help to explain Iran's desperate insistence on charging tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.  If their oil industry is facing a multi-year setback and damage to infrastructure is extensive, tolls on shipping through the strait may be their only source of economic recovery. 

Iranian citizens turning to theft to make ends meet is a far more profound issue than a similar trend would be in the US or Europe.  In Iran, punishment for a first offense for theft of food is three months to one year of incarceration and up to 74 lashes.  Multiple thefts can result in the amputation of fingers, life in prison or execution.  The point is, stealing is no small matter in Iran and for people to turn to theft suggests extreme economic derailment. 

Even if the war ends this week as negotiations reportedly carry forward, Iran faces a long and arduous road to recovery.  It is likely that a collapse of the existing system is inevitable.  Whether or not this actually leads to civil unrest as the regime fears is anyone's guess.  

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 12:15

Trump Urges Pirro To 'Revisit' Decision To Drop Charges Against Accused Reflecting Pool Vandal After New Photos Emerge

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

President Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “revisit” her decision to drop charges against an accused Reflecting Pool vandal after new photos shared on social media, showed clear signs of vandalism.

The Department of Justice dismissed the case on August 1 after the Department of the Interior had concluded there were many flaws with the renovation project, including  lining that appeared to begin peeling days after installation.

The president on Monday railed against the decision, telling reporters in the Oval Office that Pirro had “made a mistake,” and insisting “there was vandalism.”

Trump conceded that he was not “100 percent thrilled with the contractor,” but made clear that he was disappointed in Pirro.

“Frankly, I think she choked,” Trump said.

“Because the judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened.”

“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro!” Trump later fumed.

“Really disappointed with Jeanne Pirro! She folded like an umbrella! And people get away with things, and it’s a disgrace!”

The president, met with Pirro later Monday, according to Politico, and told reporters Tuesday night, he hadn’t yet made a decision on whether to fire her.

In an interview with NBC News Thursday, Trump reiterated that Pirro had made a “terrible mistake” and insisted “there was tremendous vandalism.”

Freelance photographer journalist Andrew Leyden shared the previously unseen photos of the damage on social media, Friday.

“Cuts in the expansion joints on the side of the Reflecting Pool are visible today after NPS removed a fence that has blocked the view since June,” Leyden wrote on X. “The contractor reported this to Park Police as vandalism but we have not been able to photograph until now due to the fences.”

Leyden, a photojournalist for The New York Times, has extensively documented the Reflecting Pool’s condition and has concluded that the damage stemmed from construction flaws rather than vandalism.

In his Truth Social post Friday, Trump reiterated his claim that the material was cut “300 feet or more” and people were seen on video “on their knees with their hands in the water” cutting the liner exactly where the photos show the damage. The president also launched an attack on the defense team, labeling notorious lead attorney Norm Eisen a “TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG” and “complete LUNATIC.”

Eisen, who served as special counsel during Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, has filed or worked on over two dozen lawsuits against Trump.

Trump further alleged that the “gentleman involved,” former Olympian David Hearn, is a “big player” in ActBlue, the notoriously sketchy Democrat fundraising platform co-founded by Eisen. ActBlue is currently under active investigation by multiple congressional Republican committees over alleged fraudulent donations, illicit foreign contributions, money laundering, and obstruction of congressional probes.

Additionally, in October 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) petitioned the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to take immediate action to “close fundraising loopholes that jeopardize American election integrity” following his investigation into ActBlue.

“Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool," Trump posted on Truth Social. “Thank you Andrew Leyden for your observation!”

The material was cut right where the video tape showed, for 300 feet or more. People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the “slashes.” Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision, especially since it turned out that the “gentleman” involved is a big player in ActBlue, a disgraceful fundraising SCAM, and is represented by a TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG, Political Hack Lawyer, Norm Eisen, and CREW, a group that uses “charity” for political purposes which is, to the best of my knowledge, ILLEGAL! I have been beating Eisen, a complete LUNATIC, in Court for 10 years, or more. He just keeps coming, but I always WIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 11:40

Hillary Clinton Warns Dems: GOP's Anti-Communist Messaging "Very Effective" As Marxist Hijack Party

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Kara Swisher on the "Pivot" podcast that Republicans are deploying what she called a "very effective" anti-communist attack against the Democratic Party's rising class of far-left candidates, who are increasingly defeating establishment Democrats in primary races.

Clinton told Swisher that Abdul El-Sayed's narrow victory in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary is a wake-up call for the party. She said El-Sayed must unite the party by winning over supporters of moderate Rep. Haley Stevens and reassuring independent voters ahead of his general election contest against Republican Mike Rogers.

"The real fight will be, how do we make sure that people who voted for Haley feel comfortable voting for Abdul El-Sayed, and how do we get independents to feel comfortable," Clinton said.

"It's not just about Michigan, but the Republican messaging is 'communist, socialist.' It's going to be a very effective attack," she warned, adding, "People on the left have to be prepared to answer that and be effective in answering that."

💥NEW: Hillary Clinton: "It's not just about Michigan — but the Republican messaging is: 'communist, socialist.' It's gonna be a VERY effective attack." pic.twitter.com/PS6ObKoZli

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) August 7, 2026

Clinton said President Trump's repeated use of "communist" and "socialist" labels was likely informed by polling and shouldn't be dismissed by the Democratic left. She said El-Sayed campaigned on Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, ending US aid to Israel, and raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires, positions that could alienate moderate voters.

Hitler was a left-wing socialist https://t.co/fmyD3fMGkD

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 8, 2026

The Democratic Socialists of America's "Dismantle America From Within" platform is an odd political pitch when most Americans simply want lower prices and lower taxes.

Clinton's warning comes one month after Mark Penn, the former chief White House pollster and strategic advisor to President Bill Clinton for six years, used a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled "The Socialist Threat Is Real" to warn about far-left radicals hijacking the Democratic Party. 

Penn's warning was very blunt: "America will be in serious trouble if Democrats fail to defend their party."

He added, "Lawmakers, law-enforcement agencies and journalists should investigate the Democratic Socialist of America to see if foreign governments and interests are funding it."

Another Clinton insider, Jamie Metzl, who served in the Clinton White House, sounded the alarm about "radical extremists" known as DSA:

I am a lifelong Democrat. I served on President Clinton's National Security Council and in the State Department under Madeleine Albright. I am also a lifelong human rights and civil rights advocate.

But every Democrat and every American should recognize that the DSA represents a fundamental threat to our party and our country.

This is not a story about a few idealists seeking to reduce healthcare costs. It is about a small group of radical extremists pursuing a strategy to take over the Democratic Party and ultimately our country in order to impose an agenda that would devastate our economy and fundamentally dismantle our system of government.

Don't take my word for it. Listen to the full conversation between Fox News' Martha MacCallum and New York City DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo and judge for yourself.

I am a lifelong Democrat. I served on President Clinton’s National Security Council and in the State Department under Madeleine Albright. I am also a lifelong human rights and civil rights advocate.

But every Democrat and every American should recognize that the DSA represents a…

— Jamie Metzl (@JamieMetzl) July 18, 2026

Clinton is part of the Democratic establishment elite class that is fighting to preserve its grip on power as progressives and reformist socialists gain ground in local elections, with some openly promoting the dismantling of capitalism and running with anti-American rhetoric. 

DSA Marxist leaders are hellbent on "destroying America from within." 

Frank, Aaron, Hank and Sam are Communist insurgents, radicalized marxist revolutionaries hiding behind personal ideologies to justfy their 1A expressions of the right to promote the insurrection of the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America pic.twitter.com/XLzzjisOqd

— AnimalFarm1945 (Moshe) (@Farm1945A) July 6, 2026

DSA spokesperson Hasan Piker tells followers to "kill capitalist" ... 

Hasan Piker calls on his followers to kill capitalists:

“Yeah kill them! KiII those motherfuckers and murder those motherfuckers in the streets. Let the streets soak in their fucking red capitalist blood, dude.”

Democrats are campaigning with him. pic.twitter.com/YiZxGgRkgc

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) April 9, 2026

Hasan: "FLOOD illegals into the United States so they can 'f*ck your sisters and daughters' to 'destroy the white race'." 

Hasan Piker says he wants to FLOOD illegals into the United States so they can "f*ck your sisters and daughters" to "destroy the white race"

I am demanding the Democratic Party voice PUBLICLY that they denounce Hasan Piker's comments.

If they don't, let this post be proof…

— Jack (@jackunheard) August 7, 2026

To understand the composition of competing forces within the American left, Karlyn Borysenko, who describes herself as an anti-communist analyst, produced the five-tiered "rainbow cake" view that ranges from establishment Democrats who favor incremental reform within capitalism to revolutionary socialists seeking to abolish capitalism and destroy the nation from within. 

Tiers 4 and 5, the DSA, the Mamdanis, the Hasan Pikers, the El-Sayeds, and the list goes on and on, all under the DSA tent, are what the establishment fears. 

Their ties to revolutionary Marxism and Islamists are what we said last week were "the gift that keeps on giving" for Republicans and their messaging.

🚨 HOLY CRAP!!

The witness just exposed that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El Sayed (D) is connected to TERRORISTS and the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

"I look at the connections that his father-in-law, Jukaku Tayeb, has TWO brotherhood-linked groups."

"This includes being the… pic.twitter.com/soqT5TuvfD

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 5, 2026

So why is the DSA so radical and why do they want to overthrow capitalism and the nation?

Well...

Remember in Decemeber 2025 we asked the question:

• Is There A "Cuba Connection" Behind The Radicalization Of America's Nonprofit Left

Seven months later:

• "Americans Deserve To Know": State Dept. Report Details Cuban Espionage, Subversion, And Role In Rise Of Far Left
• Bombshell Report Exposes Lefty NGOs Funding A Children's Charity Tied To Terror Network

A multi-agency task force is already working to identify and disrupt far-left networks and potential foreign subversion linked to actors in Cuba, China, Europe, and the Middle East, including networks associated with Neville Roy Singham. The effort appears focused on the intersection of revolutionary Marxist movements, foreign influence operations, and domestic political destabilization.

• "Fatal Cancer On Civilization": Trump's War On Marxism Enters Action Phase As Rubio, Miller And Bessent Address 65 Nations

The US has already witnessed political assassinations, attempted assassinations, riots, firebombings, and other militant operations by the far left, and the situation will only worsen because the Democratic Party allowed the far left to grow as it sought to bring more people into its tent. Now, the far left is eating the establishment alive.

We must remind readers that Colombia offers a warning of how far-left militancy can escalate into intimidation and violence. Trump-backed President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella has taken power, but ahead of Friday's inauguration, Marxist terrorist groups detonated vehicle bombs. When revolutionary movements cannot secure power through popular support, they often turn to coercion, intimidation, and political violence. That's exactly what's happening in the US.

The rise of the far left and Marxist revolutionaries inside the DSA that are hellbent on destroying capitalism and the nation has only been a gift to the Republicans...

America will NEVER be a communist country. pic.twitter.com/XUGJGHZe7n

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 7, 2026

...who will be ramping up anti-communist messaging as the Red Scare is back. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 11:05

Ukraine Faces Growing Air Defense Crisis As Patriot Supplies Dwindle

Via RFE/RL,

• Ukraine failed to intercept any of the 24 ballistic missiles and four Zircon cruise missiles Russia fired in the August 5 attack, underscoring the strain on its missile defenses.

• U.S. Patriot availability has become a significant constraint after extensive interceptor use during the Iran conflict.

• Kyiv is increasingly seeking European inventories, expanded production, and eventually licensed or joint Patriot manufacturing to secure its air defenses ahead of winter.

Ukraine's failure to intercept a single Russian missile during a large-scale overnight attack this week has raised fresh concerns over Kyiv's dwindling supply of air-defense interceptors as Moscow escalates its ballistic missile strikes on the nearly defenseless capital and other regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that deliveries of anti-ballistic interceptor missiles from partner countries have fallen sharply, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to deadly attacks that are being launched by Russia with increasing frequency.

Following a meeting with Ukraine's military leadership on protecting critical infrastructure on August 2, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had received only a third as many air-defense interceptors this year compared to the same period in 2025.

"Our partners have the missiles. What is needed are the necessary political decisions on deliveries and on accelerating production, including localization in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze, who was in Kyiv during the most recent attack on August 5, condemned Russia's latest strikes, which lit up the late-night skies with balls of flames from massive explosions.

"It was a vile attack on Ukrainians. I was hiding in the shelter along with a number of them and admiring their resilience. Russia is a terrorist state and needs to be contained," she wrote on X.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also urged allies not to slow military assistance.

Speaking on August 5, he said:

"Russian strikes take no summer vacation; support for Ukraine and pressure on the aggressor must not pause, either. Every interceptor counts. They are life-saving tools."

US Stockpile Questions

Patriot interceptor missiles remain Ukraine's most effective defense against Russian ballistic missiles, but questions are growing over how many additional interceptors Washington can realistically provide.

Last week, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that the United States has used more than half of its Patriot PAC-3 MSE and THAAD interceptor inventories during its military operations against Iran this year.

The report estimated that US stocks of Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors have fallen from more than 2,300 before the conflict, which began in February, to roughly 800, while THAAD interceptor inventories have been nearly halved.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with CSIS and co-author of the report, told RFE/RL that the shortages leave Washington with little flexibility to supply Ukraine.

"Ukraine will not be able to expect many interceptors -- or any interceptors -- from the United States for quite a while," Cancian said.

"The US has used extensively its own inventories.... We're down to about 800 or 900 [Patriot interceptors]. The war planners don't want to go below that, so it would be very difficult to provide any of those or any new production to Ukraine.”

Cancian said Ukraine may instead have to seek Soviet-designed S-300 missiles from countries that still operate the system and intensify efforts to destroy Russian missile launchers before they can fire.

His assessment contrasts with public assurances from the Trump administration.

CNN, citing unnamed officials, reported on August 4 that Patriot inventories had fallen to "dangerously low" levels. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected that report, calling it "fake news."

Just days earlier, the Pentagon announced agreements with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to expand production of Patriot PAC-3 and THAAD interceptors.

US President Donald Trump insisted early on August 6 that the United States has "massive" amounts of munitions.

Trump also had pledged to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, only to appear to backtrack on that promise days later.

"Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"The 'leakers' of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!" he added.

However, US administration officials who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity said the CSIS estimates broadly reflect the current state of American interceptor inventories.

Cancian said rebuilding those stockpiles will take years despite efforts to accelerate production.

"The United States is expanding production," he said.

"Before the war in Ukraine, it was producing about 300 Patriot interceptors a year. Now we're up to about 600. We're trying to get to 2,000 a year, but that will take until at least 2030."

Even then, he said, Ukraine will have to compete with other US partners for new production.

"The Gulf states have used a lot of their Patriots [in the current Gulf conflict]. They want their inventories replenished, so there'll be a lot of competition for the new production. It may be four or five years before supply meets demand."

Risks For Ukraine

The prospect of fewer US interceptors raises immediate questions for Ukraine as Russia steps up missile attacks ahead of another winter.

Adding to the urgency, several media reports, including from Reuters, quoted Ukrainian military intelligence sources as saying a North Korean missile unit had begun deploying to western Russia and ‌could be equipped with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for attacks on Ukraine.

Kervin Aucoin, a US Army veteran and former military intelligence analyst, said reduced US inventories will inevitably affect Kyiv.

"It's not going to be none, but it will be far less than what Ukraine was expecting," Aucoin told RFE/RL.

Still, he argued that Ukraine has repeatedly adapted to changing battlefield conditions.

"Ukraine is doing a great job…. If they can't rely on the US, unfortunately, they will rely on their own resilience, and they will continue to succeed on the battlefield," he said.

Over time, he said, Ukraine may increasingly turn toward cheaper technologies, including drone-based air defense and laser systems, rather than relying primarily on costly Patriot interceptors.

Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee, told RFE/RL he believes the White House remains committed to supporting Ukraine.

"When I talk to people in the White House, they are absolutely committed to supporting Ukraine. I'm confident they will provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs when it needs them."

Cancian also warned that depleted US inventories could influence how America's adversaries assess Washington's military readiness.

"China is what the United States is most worried about," he told RFE/RL.

"Using so many interceptors has created a window of vulnerability, and China might try to take advantage of that."

He added that Iran could reach similar conclusions: "Iran is certainly looking at this and thinking that the United States might be unwilling to recommence hostilities because of these growing shortages."

Ukraine Looks To Europe

With US supplies under pressure, Ukraine is increasingly looking to European allies.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker recently said Washington is exploring joint production of Patriot interceptors with Ukraine and European partners.

He stressed, though, that the immediate priority is to provide Ukraine with the air defense capabilities it needs to survive another winter, either from allies with excess interceptors or through increased production at US factories.

Kyiv has already begun that effort.

In early July, then-Defense Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov sent requests to nearly 40 countries seeking the temporary transfer of Patriot interceptors from existing inventories, proposing to replace them later with missiles from future production.

Ukraine has not disclosed which countries received the requests.

Within the European Union, a key provider of military assistance to Ukraine, seven countries operate Patriot systems: Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Spain, and Romania.

RFE/RL asked those governments on August 5 whether they would consider supplying additional interceptors following Ukraine's failure to intercept any Russian missiles during the overnight attack.

Germany declined to comment on operational matters, as did Romania, which called it a "matter of national security."

Sweden pointed to its contribution of an additional $108 million to the PURL initiative, bringing its total support for the program to $535 million.

The Netherlands has previously said it has already donated everything it could spare from its own Patriot inventories, and is providing Ukraine with around 3 billion euros per year in military aid until at least 2029.

"We have already delivered Patriots missiles and are currently unable to deliver more missiles from our existing stockpiles. At the same time, we are open to exploring any option that helps Ukraine protect its skies and people. Air defense has been a strong focus point of our military support and will continue to be so in the future,” the Netherlands Defense Ministry spokesman Kees Bakhuis told RFE/RL in a written statement on August 6.

Poland's Defense Ministry said all support requests from Ukraine are reviewed by the Polish Armed Forces and organizational units of the ministry as part of the country's comprehensive support -- from the donation of military equipment, to the training of Ukrainian soldiers, to extensive logistical support and medical support -- to Ukraine's Armed Forces.

RFE/RL asked Ukraine's ambassador to NATO, Alyona Hetmanchuk, about the state of negotiations with partner countries, but her response was not available as of publication.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 10:30