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Caterpillar Erupts As Quarterly Sales Top $20 Billion For First Time Amid AI Data Center Boom

Caterpillar shares jumped in pre-market trading after reporting a second-quarter beat, driven by strong growth in its heavy machinery, power and energy business amid the data center buildout, reshoring, and other activities reindustrializing the nation under the Trump administration.

Revenue soared 24% from one year ago to $20.54 billion, exceeding the $19.01 billion Bloomberg consensus estimate. Machinery, power and energy revenue climbed 25% to $19.58 billion, while operating income surged 51% to $4.21 billion, well above the $3.5 billion estimate.

Financial Products operating income rose 24% to $263 million, beating Wall Street expectations, though the segment's $962 million in revenue missed forecasts. Research and development spending increased 12% to $616 million.

Here's a snapshot of Caterpillar's second-quarter results, courtesy of Bloomberg:

Revenue $20.54 billion, +24% y/y, estimate $19.01 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)

• Financial segment revenue $962 million, +7.5% y/y, estimate $982.8 million
• Machinery, Power & Energy revenue $19.58 billion, +25% y/y, estimate $18.13 billion
• Machinery, Power & Energy operating income $4.21 billion, +51% y/y, estimate $3.5 billion
• Financial Products operating income $263 million, +24% y/y, estimate $248.1 million

R&D expenses $616 million, +12% y/y, estimate $602.5 million

"This is the first time in company history that we have generated over $20 billion in sales and revenues in a single quarter," Caterpillar CEO Joe Creed wrote in a statement.

Creed continued, "This milestone underscores both the essential work our customers do every day and the dedication of Caterpillar employees worldwide to solving our customers' toughest challenges. Strong order rates and a growing backlog reflect broadening momentum across all three of our primary segments."

Caterpillar shares surged nearly 8% in premarket trading, suggesting the company cleared the high bar set by investors. This morning's surge follows a 23% decline last month, the stock's worst performance since 2009, as concerns about data-center spending fueled a broader selloff across power-equipment companies.

Last week, Michael Burry announced we shorted Caterpillar for the first time ...

*MICHAEL BURRY SAYS HE SHORTED CATERPILLAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

*BURRY SAYS HE SHORTED TESLA, NVIDIA AND APPLIED MATERIALS

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 30, 2026

Read the note where Morgan Stanley expects $1 trillion hyperscaler capex this year.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 07:45

Saudi Aramco Profit Soars As CEO Warns Hormuz Closure Removes 100 Million Barrels A Week

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer by volume, reported a 33% jump in second-quarter profits on Tuesday as the war-driven surge in Brent crude, which averaged $97 a barrel, boosted earnings. The company maintained export flows by redirecting crude around the disrupted Strait of Hormuz through its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea.

Adjusted net income for the quarter surged to $33.4 billion from $25.2 billion a year earlier, beating the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of $31.1 billion. Aramco sold oil at an average of $108.10 a barrel, up from $66.70, while Brent averaged nearly $97 during the quarter.

Aramco heavily relied on its East-West Pipeline, storage facilities, and Red Sea energy terminals to maintain export flows as the Hormuz chokepoint came to a standstill for the quarter. Nevertheless, liquids production plunged 28% to 7.57 million barrels a day, while natural gas output tumbled 16%.

The East-West Pipeline shows how critical an alternative route to transport energy products has become for U.S.-allied countries in the Gulf, as a once-in-a-generation infrastructure buildout, whether a new pipeline or expanded capacity of legacy ones to new ports, is set to be underway. This, in itself, will erode Tehran's leverage on the Hormuz in the years ahead.

Aramco maintained its $21.9 billion base dividend despite generating just $12.3 billion in free cash flow. Gearing, a measure of the company's indebtedness, increased to 6.2% from 4.8% at the end of March, highlighting the financial strain of sustaining a payout critical to Saudi government finances.

Separately, Aramco's President and CEO, Amin H. Nasser, told Al Arabiya Business that the closure of the Hormuz chokepoint sparked the "largest oil shock in history," resulting in the global market losing more than 2.6 billion barrels of supply since the start of the Gulf crisis in late February.

Aramco’s President and CEO Amin H. Nasser tells Al Arabiya Business that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz caused the “largest oil supply shock in history,” resulting in the global market losing more than 2.6 billion barrels of supply since the start of the crisis. pic.twitter.com/DbzlcglOYT

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 4, 2026

Nasser said the closure of the Hormuz removes about 100 million barrels of oil from the market every week and has placed the global refining system under severe strain.

From the earnings call: 

Goldman Sachs' top commodities experts, Samantha Dart and Daan Struyven, have both warned about the refinery shock and pointed out that "diesel is at the epicenter of the supply squeeze."

Read the report:

• "Diesel Is At Epicenter Of Supply Squeeze,": Goldman
• "Really Only One Thing Worries Us A Lot": Here's What Keeps Goldman's Commodities Guru Up At Night

Even after the chokepoint reopens, Nasser warned that it could take up to 18 months to replenish global inventories.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 07:20

Global Bond Market On Edge As Japanese Yields Soar After "Horrible" 10Y JGB Auction

While much of the market focus has fallen on the US long-end, which saw substantial pressure in the past week, sending 30Y yields to 5.27%, the highest level since 2007, it was Japan again which stole the show overnight. But first, recall that the primary tradeoff for the BOJ preventing it from raising rates and comfortably pushing up the yen without needing to spending tens of billions in massive interventions (whether individual or joint with the US), is that raising rates risks collapsing the world's biggest house of cards, which is the Japanese bond market, the world's, second biggest of which half is now owned by the Bank of Japan. 

Well, early on Tuesday morning Japan had its first major coupon auction since the latest intervention and it went... catastrophically. 

The auction, which saw a huge tail, the second highest since the start of the century...

... and dismal demand in the form of a collapsing 2.56 bid to cover, far below the 3.3 average, the lowest since May 2025...

... and the third lowest going back all the way to 2015.

... sent the yield on 10Y paper as spiking as much as 5bps higher to 2.87% with JGB futures tumbling as much as 34 ticks to 126.37. 

The lowest price was also a long way off from pre-sale estimates. In a nutshell, as Bloomberg's Mark Cranfield put it, it was a "horrible auction" and ominously adds that "this is such a bad bond sale it could spill over negatively to Treasuries and other G-10 bonds." The Bloomberg strategist also notges that "investors appear to be giving the BOJ pay back for not be clearer in their intentions to get ahead of inflationary forces and raise interest rates more quickly."

The auction was so bad, even domestic Japanese investors seem to have been surprised at the poor metrics.  As a result, 10-year yields fast approached the peak seen in July around 2.90%, with Cranfield warning that "should Japanese bonds go beyond that threshold seen last month, it is likely to send a deeply negative read across to G-10 peers, which will reverberate through global fixed-income trading."

Elsewhere, Bloomberg strategist Ven Ram points out the obvious noting that "the lukewarm reception to Japan’s latest bond auction shows that the latest round of currency intervention has failed to turn around sentiment toward the nation’s assets.... While the Japan-US joint currency intervention shored up the yen, the follow-through needs to come not from the US Treasury or Japan’s finance ministry, but rather from the Bank of Japan."

The bottom line: unless the BOJ follows through on the intervention either by raising rates outside its normal policy review cycle or by signaling an urgent intent to follow through with successive hikes, bonds will continue to falter. That, in turn, bodes poorly for the yen’s outlook — regardless of what the authorities do in the short term.

Sure enough, after dropping as low as 155.20 yesterday, the USDJPY is now almost 300 pips higher and has already erased a third of the full intervention impact which cost Japan just shy of $100 billion.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 07:10

"Creepy" Smart Glasses Are Creating A Privacy Problem

Smart glasses are quickly becoming the next major consumer tech battleground, with Meta leading the market and rivals including Google, Samsung, and Apple preparing their own AI-powered eyewear. But as the devices become more capable, they're also fueling a growing debate over whether convenience is coming at the expense of privacy, according to a new report from Wired. 

Unlike smartphones, which require users to visibly point a camera, smart glasses can quietly capture photos, video, and audio from the wearer's point of view. Critics argue that makes them far easier to misuse. Meta has attempted to address concerns with recording lights and anti-tamper protections, but questions remain over how effective those safeguards really are. The company also briefly experimented with facial-recognition capabilities before abandoning the feature after it drew scrutiny.

Even so, consumers continue to buy them. Fans point to hands-free photography, AI assistants, live translation, accessibility features, and other practical uses that make the glasses more than just another gadget. Some smaller manufacturers are trying to distinguish themselves with camera-free designs or physical lens covers aimed at privacy-conscious buyers.

Wired writes that privacy groups say the technology may ultimately require regulation rather than voluntary safeguards, calling for mandatory recording indicators that users cannot disable. Their argument is that as AI wearables become commonplace, legal protections need to evolve just as quickly.

Then again, if people are already posting every meal, workout, vacation, and awkward first date online, maybe the only thing smart glasses are really doing is saving everyone the trouble of pulling a phone out of their pocket.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 06:55

Trump Says Iran Faces 'Decapitation' If It Doesn't Sign A 'Good' Deal Summary

• Trump says Iran faces 'decapitation' if it doesn't agree to a deal.
• Trump says Gulf allies halted planned US strikes in favor of diplomacy.
• Iran says Hormuz talks with Oman are progressing, but US actions remain the obstacle.
• Oil prices still falling on optimism over Hormuz negotiations & uptick in transit.
• Tehran is betting it can outlast Trump by raising the costs of confrontation.

//--> //--> //--> Will the U.S. invade Iran before 2027?
Yes 21% · No 80%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

*  *  *

Trump Speaks to Reporters, Addresses Iran (non)Talks

President Trump has told reporters in the Oval Office that the Iran conflict is "working out very well" and that this is Tehran's "last chance to sign a good document".

"I ⁠think we're going to maybe get ​something, but I want to give ​them every last chance before decapitation," he said, reiterating a threat to launch a major ​attack on Iran.

On Hormuz, he said:

“It has to be [free], I am not going to let them charge. If anybody is going to charge, we will charge, we are the ones … with a total control,” he said. “We have a thing called a blockade … No, no, there is not going to be charging. We are not talking about charging at all. There won’t be charging.”

*TRUMP: WANT TO GIVE IRAN LAST CHANCE BEFORE 'DECAPITATION'

... at 4:01pm on Friday

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 3, 2026

On engaging Iran in talks even while the Iranians themselves insist they will not participate in any new talks:

When we talk we say 'we're talking', if we're not talking, when you ask me, 'no we're not talking', I'll say it. But we are talking right now, we're talking, and we're talking at the request of Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia, backed by UAE, and backed by Qatar in particular, but others also, many countries called, many-the leaders of many, I'm friendly with a lot of them--This is a last chance, this is not something-if it doesn't happen, this is a last chance for them to sign a... good document.

BREAKING: Trump on Iran:

This is their last chance to sign a good document. pic.twitter.com/sLD3HkQEV3

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 3, 2026

Curiously, Trump is again insisting that when Iran says talks are off, they are lying...

Reporter: Talks with Iran are now off.

Trump: They are going on right now. It's an amazing thing.

They are not denying it this time.

But for some reason, when they are talking, they don't like to say that they are talking. pic.twitter.com/m1slQoACy0

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 3, 2026 Trump: Looking for Solution 'Caused' by Iran

President Trump on Monday issued a new Truth Social, perhaps trying to explain his latest weekend TACO move, accusing Iran's leadership of being "unbelievably duplicitous," claiming Tehran privately sought and sheduled talks while publicly insisting it is only dealing with Oman. He asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is already "completely controlled by the United States Navy" through what he called the "United States Wall of Steel," adding that "nothing gets through to Iran" unless Washington allows it. Trump also insisted discussions toward a resolution are underway despite Iranian denials, while reiterating his bottom line: "IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!"

U.S. officials say that no novel negotiations are scheduled with Iran despite Trump's statements, maintaining that ongoing talks are limited to indirect discussions via mediators involving envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. - CBS

Trump is increasingly letting his frustration and 'exasperation' go public. This seems to only confirm that indeed there are no talks taking place at this point. The US president continues to insist that the whole crisis was "caused" by the Iranians "for decades" but that it is the US now looking for a "solution" - but Iran won't play ball, after apparently 'begging' for talks...

We're only 5 months in... one wonders what the narrative will be with the US still bogged down in Hormuz by November:

To get a sense of how long the MAGA base will keep falling for Trump’s bullshit-through-military-defeat, during Dubya’s presidency it took until mid-2006, or 3 years after it was obvious what a disaster his Iraq war was, for his GOP base to begin to peel.
We’re only 5 months in. https://t.co/Mozz60zX1y

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) August 3, 2026 Trump Claimed Talks Set For Monday Afternoon, Tehran Balks

President Trump now says new talks with Iran will begin Monday afternoon after he called off a planned "massive attack" - following high level Saudi intervention, and also likely White House advisors and Pentagon leadership failing to agree on a strategic vision.

"The Saudis expressed concern and asked for clarity about the plan of action," one US official told Axios over the weekend, with another saying that crown prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Trump to de-escalate and refrain from launching the strikes. Trump aknowledged all of this to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning from Bedminster, New Jersey, to Joint Base Andrews. He claimed the canceled attack would have been "the biggest attack since World War II" and could have been "disastrous" for Iran.

"I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, by Qatar, and by Iran to hold off strikes," Trump said. "It would have been a massive attack." He added: "When the allies asked to call it off, you gotta say, Well, let's see."

.@POTUS “We had an attack that would have been the biggest attack since WORLD WAR II.

It would have been DISASTROUS FOR THEM.” pic.twitter.com/HnVYxw0EsV

— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) August 2, 2026

"I asked the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, 'What would you rather have us do?'" Trump said. "He said, 'We would prefer a deal rather than an attack.'" And more: "Allies think there is a deal," Trump explained. "There is a deal on Hormuz, and it will be a deal on the nuclear."

Iran says No Negotiations Happening

Iranian officials said there are currently no negotiations with the United States and that Tehran is not planning to send or host any delegations "these days."

However, Iran has confirmed that it is deep into negotiations over managing the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, and that it desires to get more ships moving through the vital transit waterway. According to Bloomberg on Monday:

Iran suggested negotiations to get more ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz are making progress, after President Donald Trump called off what he said was a major attack on the Islamic Republic.

Oil fell on Monday, with Brent crude down about 4.5% to just over $83 a barrel, after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said discussions between Tehran and Oman over management of the strait are in the final stages.

While Tehran officials acknowledged that negotiations with Oman are ongoing and that progress has been made toward securing a temporary passage through the Strait of Hormuz, they stressed that reaching an agreement with Oman alone would not be enough to reopen the waterway, warning that the situation will remain unchanged as long as US "aggression" continues.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei conveyed also that China is concerned about "the escalation of conflict and insecurity in the region" and is working to prevent the situation from worsening. He described that there is no new mediator involved in contacts with Washington, with Pakistan and Qatar continuing to carry out that role.

On the broader conflict, Baghaei argued that the US-Israeli war on Iran is not merely a war against one country, but "a war against the entire region." He laid out that Iran once again rejected attempts to tie developments in Yemen to the conflict with Iran, calling such claims "a form of evasion of responsibility."

"We currently do not have negotiations with America," and Iran had no plans to host foreign delegations or send negotiators abroad in the coming days, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters.

🔴 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says there are no talks with the US currently, adding that there are talks with Oman over Strait of Hormuz

🔴 Baghaei says working with Oman on a temporary safe route through Strait of Hormuz

🔴 Baghaei says reaching an… pic.twitter.com/9nd1T4lgNT

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 3, 2026 Iranians 'Won't Bend' - Reuters Analyst Points Out

Meanwhile, the on-again, off-again style of escalation and de-escalation pattern we are witnessing is likely only helping Tehran's side in terms of leverage, as the conflict grinds on and potentially becomes more politically costly for the White House. 

Referring to the Iranians, Reuters writes in new analysis, "They see an opportunity in what they regard as President Donald Trump's reluctance to become deeply entangled ​in another Middle East conflict ahead of November's midterm elections."

"The Iranians...believe that by widening the war and increasing the pressure, he will eventually give in," a Gulf source is cited in the report as saying. "Trump thinks he can hit the Iranians hard and bring them to the negotiating table, but they won't bend." That much should be obvious by now, as Trump Tacos once again.

According to more from Reuters: "Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East's trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation, according to Gulf officials and analysts."

Who can outlast? This is currently month #6 of the war...

via ABC7

"Rather than seeking a ​decisive military victory, Tehran is pursuing a strategy of calibrated escalation aimed at widening the conflict without triggering full-scale war," the report continues. But that much should have been obvious and anticipated from week one of the war, and clearly the US side underestimated things.

More Latest Developments

via Newsquawk

• US President Trump said the US is locked and loaded and ready to go against Iran, but they “have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal have been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat. Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
• In further comments, US President Trump said the Iran attack would have been a massive one if not paused, adding there's a deal on Hormuz and there will be a deal on denuclearisation. He added that he was asked very strongly by Iran to hold off the attack. On negotiations, he said they will begin tomorrow afternoon.
• US CENTCOM was reported on Friday to have prepared a large-scale operation in the form of a decisive two-week bombing campaign should President Trump choose escalation to break the deadlock in the Middle East, according to The Hill reports, citing sources.
• US Central Command intelligence official wrote in an email that they are seeking new and unconventional ways to increase pressure on and punish Iran, according to an internal message circulated among military analysts, according to CNN
• Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said negotiations with Oman are progressing, with the two sides holding constructive talks on a new framework and exchanging maps over the past seven to eight days for review, IRNA reported.
• Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei said Iran is working with Oman to establish a temporary security corridor in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that Tehran is not currently in dialogue with the US and is holding talks with Oman on the waterway. Baghaei added that issues with the US should be addressed at a later stage and that there are no plans to receive a US delegation or send an Iranian delegation in the coming days.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi told a cabinet meeting on Sunday that the negotiations with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz “were in the final stages”, according to FT. It was separately reported that Araghchi held phone calls with Saudi, Pakistan and Iraqi counterparts and exchanged views on the latest developments in the region, while he warned on Saturday against any adventurous action by the US and stressed Iran's readiness to respond decisively to any aggression.
• Iranian lawmaker Qashqawi said there are no discussions with the US or talks on the nuclear issue, adding that US sanctions amount to war; lasting peace can only be pursued once the military, economic and media conflict ends, SNN reported.
• Iran’s Mehr News Agency rejected US President Trump’s claim that he halted attacks at the request of Iran and Middle East countries, while it called it “a new lie” and emphasised that Iran’s forces are on full alert.
• UKMTO said on Saturday it received a report of an incident 21 nautical miles northeast of Oman's Khasab, where the master of the tanker saw a large splash and explosion in close proximity to the vessel, although no damage to the vessel was reported.
• Israel told the White House it has significant security concerns over a proposed Hamas disarmament agreement, saying intelligence suggests Hamas intends to rebuild its military capabilities rather than genuinely disarm. Israel added that it will not withdraw from most of Gaza until Hamas has fully completed the disarmament process.
• Palestinian civil defence said Israeli drone and airstrikes hit multiple locations across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 18 people, including two women and four children, with residential apartments, tents sheltering displaced people and civilian areas among the reported targets.
• Kpler shipping data showed 18 vessels passed through the Bab al-Mandeb on Sunday, compared to the 27 vessels on Saturday.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 06:35

Senator Urges National Security Review Of Chinese Solar Company's Planned Use Of Facility Near US Military Base In Ohio

Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times,

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to carry out a national security review of a Chinese solar company's potential use of a facility located near a major U.S. military base in Dayton, Ohio.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) speaks during a hearing on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington on Feb. 12, 2026. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Moreno, who serves on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, sent a July 31 letter to Bessent, expressing his concerns about a pending real estate transaction involving SolarSpace Technology, a China-based manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and modules.

"It is my understanding that SolarSpace intends to lease or purchase a facility located at 2555 Woodman Drive, Kettering, Ohio, which is approximately 13 miles from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base," Moreno wrote.

"The Chinese Communist Party is never allowed to purchase or lease land near our military installations."

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is home to the Air Force Materiel Command, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, employing more than 38,000 military personnel, civilians, and contractors.

The Air Force Research Laboratory has conducted hypersonic science and technology research since the early 1960s, a decades-long effort that a senior laboratory scientist said in 2021 was supported by roughly $1.7 billion in U.S. investment over the previous 25 years.

In 2014, a former civilian employee of the Air Force Research Laboratory was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison in Los Angeles for selling the laboratory's sensitive information to an individual he believed was a Chinese intelligence agent.

According to Moreno, the base "is not only one of the Department of War's most strategically significant installations, but also a cornerstone of U.S. air and space superiority, serving as a central hub for aerospace research, engineering, and intelligence."

Moreno contended that SolarSpace Technology poses a national security risk because "the Chinese Communist Party has leveraged American commercial entities to advance its military and intelligence objectives."

SolarSpace Technology is headquartered in Xuzhou, a city in northwestern China's Jiangsu Province. According to the company's website, it has an overseas office in Wilmington, Delaware.

A 2023 report submitted to China's Shenzhen Stock Exchange showed that the company had received millions in Chinese government subsidies from 2020 to the first half of 2023.

As chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Bessent should immediately investigate SolarSpace Technology, according to Moreno.

"We cannot let this potential transaction proceed without investigation," Moreno wrote. "We cannot allow potential shell companies for the Chinese Communist Party to buy land or facilities near our most sensitive military and critical infrastructure sites, including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base."

Chinese entities owned 277,336 acres of U.S. agricultural land as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The holdings - concentrated in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Utah, and Florida - include properties located within 150 miles of at least 30 U.S. military installations.

Many states - including Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, and South Dakota - have taken legislative or executive action to address concerns about foreign ownership of U.S. land.

In 2024, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order banning China and other foreign adversaries from owning agricultural land within 10 miles of critical military facilities in the state. Missouri is home to several military facilities, including Whiteman Air Force Base, which hosts the nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.

To confront the issue, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) led a group of Republican senators, including Moreno, in reintroducing the Protect Our Bases Act (S.2116) in June 2025.

The legislation would "strengthen CFIUS to review these purchases near sensitive national security installations to protect our nation's security from being compromised by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and other enemies," Moreno said in a statement at the time.

SolarSpace Technology did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 06:30

Pentagon Crowdsources 'Creative, Unconventional' Ideas To Pressure Iran

President Trump's weekend somewhat comical, hyperbolic, or even absurd proclamation that he was planning an attack on Iran which would have been "the biggest attack since World War II" and could have been "disastrous" for Iran - before being called off - is raising serious questions. 

It is now month six of the war, but the same question could have been aptly posed in just the opening week of Operation Epic Fury: what constitutes a strategic 'win' and end goal for the United States in Iran? In a latest sign of growing desperation, now becoming more evident and out in the open, US Central Command (CENTCOM) formally asked military analysts to develop "creative and unconventional" ways to pressure Iran amid a broader administration reassessment of strategy.

CENTCOM file image

CNN says it has obtained an email sent out from US Central Command's intelligence branch across an array of military analysts urging new ideas. It is very uncommon for top commanders to broadly send such a request to lower-level troops.

"We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran," a CENTCOM intelligence officer wrote in the broad pitch. 

This comes after several times throughout this conflict, Trump vowed major attacks - which were later called off, also as Washington clearly can't find an exit.

The Pentagon actually rather quickly confirmed that this email calling for 'ideas' was indeed sent. "U.S. Central Command has a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways," CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Timothy Hawkins said in a statement. "Admiral Cooper, in particular, reaches out to members of our great team, regardless of rank, to achieve the highest levels of operational performance possible."

CNN described the move as essentially 'crowdsourcing' strike plans and strategy:

The crowdsourcing-style query, which military officials said was unusual over email, is one sign of the limited — and potentially unpalatable —options available to Trump to force Iran into a deal on his terms. Hoping to find an alternative, the official at CENTCOM kicked off the brainstorming session via email to see if anyone had a better idea. The second source said CENTCOM is looking at everything, acknowledging it needs to reevaluate the strategy.

Apparently Washington just can't seem to learn any of the obvious lessons of its own 'forever wars' of the last decades, stretching all the way back to Vietnam.

'Limited' bombing often leads to more massive bombing, which typically fails to achieve objectives - after which the question of introducing a ground force becomes more pressing. And then forces get entrenched in yet another quagmire, where 'winning' gets harder and harder to define, and where exit strategies become elusive. 

The CNN report points to the strategic conundrum in the following: "The request illustrated the challenge facing Trump as he considers three difficult paths: expanding the air campaign, committing US troops to riskier operations on the ground, or reaching an agreement that falls short of some of his original war objectives."

🇺🇸🇮🇷 The U.S military is officially out of ideas on how to tackle Iran

According to CNN, the Pentagon sent out an email asking troops for ‘creative and unconventional’ ideas to punish Iran

That's CNN, not the Babylon Bee

The bizarre request came from an officer in U.S Central… pic.twitter.com/kUgNYigh3k

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 3, 2026

Also of note is the following:

The president’s most senior military adviser, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, has acknowledged publicly that bombing alone is unlikely to accomplish all Trump’s previously stated objectives for the war.

"Air power has its limits," Caine told lawmakers last month.

One mainstream, establishment publication referenced that America keeps running headlong into the trap of "The Curse of Middle-Sized Wars".

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 05:45

UK Police Force Invites Non-Muslim Staff To Fast During Ramadan As Act Of Solidarity

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

West Midlands Police force is actively inviting non-Muslim officers and staff to go without food and water during Ramadan as a deliberate "act of solidarity" with Muslim colleagues.

The force presents this as a way for officers to grasp the "significance of Ramadan" for Muslim residents in one of Britain's most diverse regions. Critics see it as yet another example of public institutions bending their culture around one faith while the foundational principle of policing without fear or favour collapses under diversity dogma.

The invitation comes from the West Midlands Association of Muslim Police. Colleagues of all backgrounds are encouraged to fast for a day during the month-long festival, with the money they would normally spend on lunch donated to charity.

'I look forward to Christmas when all the Muslim officers have a tree in their house and join in.'@CressidaWetton reacts as West Midlands Police officers are invited to fast during Ramadan as an act of solidarity and to raise money for charity. pic.twitter.com/rmGxRxTKk8

— GB News (@GBNEWS) August 2, 2026

A force spokesman confirmed the practice has run for a number of years: "The West Midlands Association of Muslim Police has, for a number of years, invited colleagues from all faiths and backgrounds to fast for a day to raise money for charity during Ramadan. It is entirely a matter for officers and staff if they wish to take part."

"This is an initiative which is undertaken at a number of organisations around the country. The West Midlands has a large and diverse population, including many Muslim residents, and it is important for officers and staff to understand the significance of Ramadan to those communities," the spokesman added.

Documents obtained by the Telegraph through freedom of information requests show the force is held up as a model of inclusivity. A New Forest council diversity training memo praises West Midlands Police for supporting fasting colleagues with flexi-working so they can spend time with families.

It notes: "What's more, increasing numbers of non-Muslim staff have taken up fasting each year as an act of solidarity with their Muslim colleagues, adding to the family feel of WMP culture." Councillors were urged to brainstorm their own versions of such inclusivity.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy did not share the enthusiasm. He called the encouragement of non-Muslim staff to observe Ramadan "wholly inappropriate."

"The police should be a national force for all of us, observing the same standards regardless of creed," Timothy said, adding "There should be no special measures in place for any faith."

"We should not be changing police culture to comply with the practices of one religion," he continued, adding "Expectations should be uniform, and non-Muslim police being encouraged to fast in Ramadan is wholly inappropriate. We need to abolish the Public Sector Equality Duty, which provides the legal framework for much of this, and ensure there is one rule for all of us - not special treatment for certain groups."

Major Andrew Fox, senior associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, went further. He linked the initiative to the force's recent controversies, including the exclusion of Israeli football supporters based on intelligence later shown to be false or exaggerated.

"West Midlands Police's judgment is increasingly open to question," Fox stated, adding "Supporting officers of every faith is entirely appropriate. Encouraging staff to participate in a religious observance is not. The police exist to enforce the law impartially, not to promote or facilitate religious practices."

Concerns have also been raised about operational readiness. Front-line officers abstaining from food and water for extended periods during demanding shifts raises obvious questions about concentration, physical performance and public safety. Yet the force frames the voluntary fast as cultural enrichment rather than a potential operational risk.

This episode does not stand alone. It fits a pattern of ideological capture that a Policy Exchange analysis has shown is systematically undermining British policing. Forces across England and Wales have poured hundreds of millions into DEI measures and the Police Race Action Plan since 2020.

The think-tank's head of crime and justice, David Spencer, warned that police chiefs have "sought to entrench the radical ideology of 'anti-racism' into British policing." In doing so, he argued, "some police chiefs have set policing against its own foundational principle - to act 'without fear or favour'."

Spencer concluded: "It is a modern-day tragedy that many of our Chief Constables simply cannot be trusted to resolve this alone. It's time to restore the principle of 'equality before the law' in policing. Nothing less than the fundamental legitimacy of British policing is at stake."

The human cost of this ideology has already been measured in real lives. In Southampton in December 2025, 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak was stabbed multiple times. His attacker, Vickrum Digwa, claimed he was the victim of a racist assault.

Bodycam footage shows officers treating the bleeding Nowak as the aggressor, handcuffing him while he pleaded that he could not breathe. He lost consciousness shortly after and died. An inquest has been ordered to examine whether the handcuffing and delays in medical treatment contributed to his death under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Serving and former Hampshire officers later told former Home Secretary Suella Braverman that mandatory DEI sessions had "drummed into us about our white privilege and unconscious bias."

The external trainer was described as "deeply hateful of white people and our culture." Officers reported feeling controlled and pressured to adopt specific views on race. Hampshire's chief constable denied the existence of two-tier policing, but the bodycam evidence and the subsequent admissions tell a different story.

Similar patterns appear elsewhere. Footage from Birmingham earlier this year captured officers intervening in a street attack by shielding three black males who had been punching a white teenager, then arresting and manhandling the bloodied victim while the attackers walked free.

Officers were heard ordering the restrained teenager into a police car with language that left little doubt about the direction of their aggression. West Midlands Police, the same force asked to participate in fasting, asked the public to stop sharing the clips rather than account for the conduct.

The same ideological framework has been institutionalised through training that forces officers to accept the concept of "white privilege." Thames Valley Police has mandated equity sessions focusing on white privilege, micro-aggressions and the shift from non-racist to anti-racist practice.

An independent review found the material could be seen as demonising white officers, creating barriers to learning and generating resentment among white male officers who felt disadvantaged.

Former government adviser and ex-police officer Rory Geoghegan observed that officers "deserve far better from their leaders than to be crudely categorised by skin colour and subjected to reductive, divisive ideologies."

When non-Muslim officers are invited to participate in Islamic religious observance under the banner of solidarity, while the same institutions have spent years instructing white officers on their supposed privilege and have been caught prioritising racial narratives over the immediate medical needs of a dying white teenager, the pattern is clear.

The Public Sector Equality Duty and the DEI apparatus that flows from it have produced a policing culture more interested in managed optics and protected group sensitivities than in equal application of the law.

Nick Timothy's call to abolish that duty is not abstract. It is a recognition that one rule for all has been replaced by a hierarchy of protected identities. West Midlands Police's Ramadan invitation is simply the latest public expression of that hierarchy.

British policing was built on the principle that the uniform represents the same standards for every citizen. That principle is being hollowed out, one diversity initiative at a time. The public is noticing. Trust is eroding. And the consequences are no longer theoretical.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 05:00

Iron Ore Below $100 As UBS Warns "Fundamentals Are Deteriorating"

Iron ore futures in Singapore fell to their lowest intraday level in one year as deteriorating fundamentals continued to weigh on the market.

Steel demand in China remains soft amid an ongoing construction slump and weakening mill margins, while supply continues to increase, reinforcing expectations of a growing surplus.

Bloomberg noted earlier that the latest concerns surrounding major physical trader Radiant World added another layer of uncertainty, but the bigger bearish narrative remains centered on lackluster demand failing to absorb rising supply.

The outlet adds more color:

Vitol Group and Cargill Inc. have stopped doing business with Radiant World, a privately held company, amid concerns over fake invoices, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

In addition, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s Point Bonita fund were reviewing exposures to the company.

Radiant World — which has grown in recent years to become one of the market's main players — said the developments are "categorically untrue".

Separately, Myles Allsop, a London-based mining and metals research analyst at UBS, recently pointed out, "Iron ore fundamentals remain cautious; prices are starting to test the low end of the range."

Allsop questioned whether iron ore will trade above $100/t in 2027. He answered, "Probably not," and added:

Iron ore fundamentals are deteriorating with supply lifting while demand is soft; this has resulted in inventories lifting materially over the last 12 months.

We note cost support levels have lifted with higher diesel/ freight rates but these are set to moderate over the next 12 months if the ceasefire holds & oil/ gas prices normalise.

We expect iron ore prices to average ~$100/t in 2026 and moderate to ~US$95/t in 2027 with the market in a larger surplus and prices stepping down to trade just above the ~90th percentile of the value-in-use curve or ~$90/t (note).

We expect steel scrap to start to displace iron ore demand from 2027 when China's ETS gets tighter (although the scale and pace is opaque and dependent on highly fragmented collection and processing, as well as policy support).

Overnight, Iron ore futures extended their selloff, with benchmark Singapore contracts falling as much as 2.3% to $93.65 a ton, the lowest intraday level since July 2025, while the most-active Dalian contract dropped nearly 3%.

The price action suggests bearish sentiment toward the steelmaking raw material, as weakening Chinese demand, softer steel margins, and increasing supply are pressuring the market.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 04:15

The EU & The Iron Law Of Oligarchy

Authored by Stephen Soukup via American Greatness,

Along, long time ago—27 years, to be exact—my boss (the inimitable Mark Melcher) and I predicted that the European Monetary Union would be the death of the EU. The Euro, we wrote for our clients at a now-defunct big brokerage house, would be a disaster and would destroy everything that the post-war Europeans had spent the previous several decades working to build. Specifically, we wrote:

Psst! You wanna know a secret? The Euro, and the mess it represents, is going to be a social, economic and political catastrophe. Indeed, we think it is probable that the adoption of the Euro will be to 21st century Europe, what the killing of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was to 20th century Europe; i.e., that point in time when history will record that the unraveling began in earnest.

Exaggeration? Hyperbole? Well, maybe. But maybe not. You see, the problem isn’t, as most critics claim, simply that the “policy makers” from the various “regions,” will fight over economic and monetary policy, and that the economic ignoramuses might win. The problem is that economic ignoramuses are likely to be the only ones at the table.  . . .

Starting in about 2010 and running for the next decade or so, every January, in my annual foreign-policy forecast piece, I would lead with a reiteration of that prediction. The collapse of the Euro, I would write, was inevitable. It didn’t matter if it actually happened this year or next year or a decade down the road. It would all eventually crumble, largely because the ignoramuses simply couldn’t help themselves and couldn’t stop doing economically foolish things.

Sometime over the last few years, I quit making that prediction every year for a couple of reasons. First, I quit writing annual forecast pieces as my business model and focus changed. Second, and more to the point, it became unnecessary. The EU had already made itself economically irrelevant. Between its jealously fueled outrage at American tech companies, its obsession with carbon emissions, and its conscious decision to strangle its capital markets through the imposition of overtly political investing mandates, the EU guaranteed that it would become the first modern civilization in history to regress developmentally. It knowingly chose to deindustrialize and to build an economic future that was far bleaker than even its remote economic past. The Euro, I concluded, was pointless.

That’s not to say that I gave up believing that the EU would inevitably collapse. I just gave up wasting my readers’ time by prattling on about it.

Looking back at all of this now, it’s possible I may have been mistaken. No, I wasn’t wrong about the economic stuff. Not only are the ignoramuses in charge, but no one else is even in the discussion. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni is the only Eurozone leader who questions the Union’s climate policies, for example, rightly warning that they will lead to “industrial desertification.” Still, even she officially supports the EU’s position on climate change and carbon emissions more generally, as well as its agreement to the Paris Climate Accords. It’s ignoramuses all the way down.

Nevertheless, it’s probably the case that I was wrong that the economic ignoramuses would be the ones who would precipitate the official end of the EU. Or, more accurately, I suppose, I was wrong that their economically illiterate policies would be the proximate cause of the EU’s collapse. It’s the same ignoramuses, just different policies.

As you likely know, this past week, tens of thousands of “migrants” from Morocco invaded the Spanish city of Ceuta, which is along the coast in North Africa. The images from the enclave were grim: hordes of people, mostly young men, pushing, racing, and fighting to get out of Africa and into Europe (geographical technicalities, be damned). The conditions on the ground were grimmer still: as of yesterday, some 70-plus deaths had been confirmed, while more than a thousand people required medical attention. The whole thing was shocking—or at least it would have been if it hadn’t also been utterly predictable.

For most of the last forty years, Spain has been a hub of primarily North African and Middle Eastern immigration to Europe.

Since the 1980s, Spain has had six major extraordinary regularizations for its migrant populations. Although different in name and details, these “extraordinary regularizations” are essentially broad general amnesties, grants of legal immigration status to those who entered the country illegally. In 2005, under the former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (a socialist), Spain granted amnesty to more than half a million illegal immigrants. Earlier this year, under current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (also a socialist . . . or worse), the country began the process of yet another regularization, the total size of which is unknown at present but is estimated to be between 500,000 and over 800,000.

Additionally, earlier this summer, the Spanish Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the ability of the government to return immigrants who arrived in Ceuta and its sister city, Melilla, by sea rather than by land (over a technical “border”).

All things considered, Spain has done everything in its power to encourage as much immigration as possible, and its government has openly conceded this fact, arguing that demographic and workforce realities make mass immigration an absolute necessity. Unsurprisingly, given all of this, the country’s foreign-born population jumped significantly in less than two years, from approximately 18.2% of the total population in 2024 to 20.3% today.

In light of Spain’s immigration policies and in the wake of the Ceuta disaster, over the weekend, several EU nations called for a suspension of Spain’s privileges under the Schengen Agreement, which allows borderless travel within the Schengen region: no passport control, a unified set of regulations, etc. Predictably, Meloni’s Italy was the first to speak up. Deputy PMs Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini announced a formal one-month suspension of Italy’s Schengen relations with Spain, closing Italy’s maritime and air entry points to Spain and introducing “targeted and selective” checks on non-EU travelers arriving from that country. France followed suit, reintroducing checks at its land border crossings with Spain. Finland began preparing to reimpose border controls along its own Schengen borders, and its interior minister, Mari Rantanen, offered the sharpest public statement by a government official to date: “Spain’s outer border is also our outer border, and. . . they have failed in their efforts to prevent this incursion, this invasion.” Denmark and Czechia both demanded Spain’s suspension from Schengen, but neither has taken unilateral action on its own.

In response, Pedro Sánchez complained that everyone, everywhere, was overreacting, stating that the rest of Europe was being “selfish, polarising, and unlawful.”

Taken as a whole, this entire episode—starting with Spain’s admitted desire to import as many immigrants as possible and continuing through this weekend’s demands for Spain’s suspension from Schengen—helps clarify some of the broader issues facing the EU.

First, in the age of mass immigration, Schengen shows clearly that the EU itself was a half-baked idea. Interestingly, Schengen did not start as an EU enterprise. It started as a side agreement between a handful of member states: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It was only in 1999, via the Amsterdam Treaty’s Schengen Protocol, that the “Schengen acquis” (the whole body of Schengen rules and agreements) was formally absorbed into EU law. In 2004, the EU—as opposed to its member states, a key distinction—tried to push a European constitution on its members, including provisions formally mandating Schengen compliance, making the EU “an area without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured. . . .”  The following year, French and Dutch voters explicitly rejected the constitution via referenda, which should, by all rights, have been the end of it. The EU being the EU, it decided that it wouldn’t take no for an answer and scaled the constitution back marginally and re-presented it as the Lisbon Treaty, which, among many foolish things, formalized and mandated participation in the Schengen migration policies.

Second, the Euro, the immigration mess, and the EU’s unwillingness to accept the will of the people as definitive confirm Robert Michels’ Iron Law of Oligarchy and show that the EU’s pretensions to “democracy” are rather laughable. Michels was a student of Max Weber, the founder of modern sociology, who sought to deepen his appreciation of socialism by studying the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), the most avowedly democratic, mass-participatory political organization in Europe at the time. He presumed that he would find a functional, egalitarian organization that confirmed all his fantastical priors. Instead, what he discovered was the opposite. He concluded, based on his study, that even organizations explicitly founded on democratic principles—universal participation, elected leadership, accountability to the membership—invariably develop into oligarchies, ruled by a small, self-perpetuating leadership class. It is simply the nature of large organizations. This, then, is Michels’ Iron Law of Oligarchy: “It is organisation that gives birth to the domination of the elected over the electors, of the mandataries over the mandators, of the delegates over the delegators. Who says organisation, says oligarchy.”

The EU is an oligarchy in Michelsian terms. It is governed by a small self-perpetuating ruling class that sees “the people” as impediments to its technocratic program and will do whatever is necessary to advance its agenda, regardless of the will of those people.

Finally, the EU will crumble. All Utopian enterprises eventually do. They must. They can’t help but do so. And while it may not be the monetary union that brings it down, something will. Maybe it will be Schengen and immigration. Maybe it will be something else. Who knows? Whatever the case, it will, eventually, collapse. The real, painful part of Michels’ Iron Law is the inability of oligarchies to reform themselves. They are incapable. What this suggests is that the EU’s response to the Ceuta incident and to Spain’s immigration unilateralism more generally will be to add more layers of centralizing regulation to the already oligarchical system, thereby making a bad problem even worse.

The EU won’t reform because it can’t reform. And so, it will collapse instead.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 03:30

Huge Uptick In Israeli Airstrikes On Gaza Since Trump Hailed 'Historic' Hamas Deal

Middle East regional media has reported a huge uptick in Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip since President Trump announced a "historic" agreement which Hamas finally signed on to. 

The agreement would result in a phased complete disarmament of Hamas and the handing over of governance to newly proposed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) - a body designed to replace both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

However, fighting has persisted, with Al Jazeera reporting that at least 19 Palestinians killed on Saturday in Israeli attacks and that the total deal toll from the weekend is now 26 people, including women and children.

via Euro-Med Monitor

Israel continues to express skepticism in the face of Washington's recent optimism:

Despite Hamas agreeing to a phased disarmament, Israel’s government says it has “serious security concerns” about the plan, and there has been strong resistance from Israeli politicians to the deal.

The continued bombardment of Gaza, contributing to Israel’s continued breaches of October’s “ceasefire” agreement, will likely threaten Trump’s peace plan and exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation for Palestinians in the enclave.

Reuters had on Sunday reported an entire day of fresh IDF bombardment on Gaza.

"Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza for a second straight day on Sunday, killing at least 18 Palestinians, medics said, ​despite U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year's ceasefire agreement," Reuters wrote.

"From dawn, Israeli warplanes hit Gaza City in the north, the central city of Deir ‌al-Balah and the southern area of Khan Younis, causing the biggest daily death toll in weeks, according to Palestinian health officials," it added. 

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen issued the Netanyahu government's view on Sunday: "In the deal we signed with the United States, our stance is that Hamas must be dismantled. This is the first thing ⁠that must happen." 

Cohen expressed that Israeli is "very skeptical" that Hamas would actually disarm. And PM Netanyahu's office said: "The most important concern for Israel is that nothing can happen ​before Hamas completely and truly disarms."c

So while the US and regional leaders are busy celebrating and hailing the plan, the proverbial devil will be in the details and in the process - and needless to say a lot could go wrong.

⭕️ 🇵🇸 NEW: The US-led Board of Peace claims Israeli withdrawal comes only after Hamas fully disarms. Its own published roadmap says otherwise.

In a statement Monday after its envoy Nickolay Mladenov met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US-led Board of Peace… https://t.co/YerdKpo1Yc

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 3, 2026

On pro-Palestinian advocate and author worries that Gaza will continue to be destroyed, but that international coverage and cameras have in effect moved on: "There was a time when every explosion in Gaza flashed across my phone – horrible images of children being pulled from rubble, medical workers trying to help patients as the hospital itself gets bombed, and families howling in grief as Israeli bombs obliterated entire Palestinian lineages," Vijay Prashad observes.

Prashad adds: "Israel’s attacks continue as families flee from one temporary shelter to another and children search through shattered concrete for fragments of lives they once knew. But the world’s attention has shifted elsewhere as the genocide has become routine. We have become comfortably numb."

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 02:45

Spanish Opposition Leaders Calls For PM Sánchez To Be 'Put In The Dock' Over Immigrant Lies

Via Remix News,

Vox leader Santiago Abascal has called for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to be put “in the dock,” accusing his government of lying about the number of illegal migrants returned to Morocco following the latest mass influx into Ceuta.

Abascal traveled to the Spanish enclave at the weekend after canceling a planned visit to Colombia, saying the situation demanded his presence in Spain. Upon arriving, he posted footage of significant numbers of what appear to be illegal immigrants occupying beaches in the city. He claimed that “thousands and thousands” of illegal migrants remained in Ceuta and that frightened residents were still unable to leave their homes.

“What happened in Ceuta has been an invasion and an act of war promoted by Morocco and allowed by Sánchez, who is incapable of responding because he is subservient to Morocco,” Abascal told reporters on Sunday.

He demanded the immediate return of all illegal Moroccan migrants, permanent militarization of the border, closure of the border crossing, suspension of the European Union’s agreement with Morocco, and legal proceedings against Sánchez.

🇪🇸 @Vox_es party leader @Santi_ABASCAL debunks the Spanish government's claim that most of the 50,000+ Moroccans in Ceuta have been returned. pic.twitter.com/t6pZ2j8wNQ

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) August 2, 2026

According to OKdiario, the Spanish government says more than 48,000 of the approximately 50,000 migrants who reached Ceuta have already returned to Morocco.

Abascal disputed those figures, arguing that footage from the city showed large numbers of migrants still present.

The center-right People’s Party also stepped up its criticism of Sánchez. Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo remained in Ceuta over the weekend, meeting representatives of the Civil Guard and police unions.

PP Secretary General Miguel Tellado accused Sánchez of being on vacation while attempting to make the public forget that he had failed to prevent what Tellado called the greatest attack on Spanish sovereignty.

“The worst prime minister at the worst possible time,” he said.

La Gaceta reported that undocumented migrants had carried out widespread looting of shops and supermarkets across Ceuta, placing severe pressure on local businesses struggling to maintain supplies of food and other essentials.

Government delegate Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano nevertheless insisted that the number of migrants in Ceuta had fallen substantially and said authorities would accelerate return procedures.

“There are far fewer people than when they arrived. There have been many departures,” he said, promising that removals would be processed “without fail.”

Some migrants have already attempted to travel onward to mainland Spain. El País reported that National Police intercepted two boats carrying 17 people of North African origin near Algeciras and La Línea de la Concepción.

Police are investigating where the vessels departed from and the circumstances surrounding their arrival on the Cádiz coast.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/04/2026 - 02:00

12 Glaring Realities Of Marxist Socialism

Authored by Christian Milord via The Epoch Times,

In a free society that embraces free markets and the rule of law, young people must be made aware of the glaring realities regarding the alleged “fuzzy and warm” nature of Marxist (collectivism, communism, progressivism, socialism) iterations. 

There are at least twelve aspects of the Marxist ideology that are clear and present dangers to democratic nations as well as undemocratic countries.

First, Marxism was founded on the stark concept of atheism.  Consequently, it attempts to dismantle the Judeo-Christian faith that has been an anchor of civilization for thousands of years and helps people to navigate life’s challenges.  Marxists also oppose the traditional family, which is the building block of any culture and bolsters societal bonds.  On every life category, intact families are far more successful than broken families.

Next, Marxist policies encourage folks to be intellectually and physically lazy as they rely on bureaucratic government for all of their needs.  This reliance generates an unearned entitlement mentality that expects others to supply the needs of those who refuse to accept personal responsibility.  Minimal effort is applied to studying and working, yet the “entitled” expect to earn high salaries regardless of the effort they put forth.

Third, Marxists are quite generous with the money confiscated from job creators, but they are stingy with their own money.  However, most of the money and possessions that are seized by Marxist leaders end up with their cronies and are not redistributed to the lower-income workers they claim to be helping.  The hypocrisy is staggering.

Fourth, Marxist influencers compete with one another to see who the best liar is as they deceive the vulnerable who might believe promises that are too good to be true.  Marxists use deception as a means to control the masses and keep them on their heels.  They talk a good game about socialism as a paradise on earth yet do everything they can to turn that alleged nirvana into a hell on earth.

Fifth, Marxism is an arbitrary system built on a foundation of contradictions.  It can hand out some goodies but just as easily withdraw them.  Marxists believe that they can alter laws whenever they feel the urge, thus using raw power plays to confuse and divide people, and consolidate power in the hands of a few.  Arbitrary laws can hinder people from advancing economically and can also create insecurity.

Sixth, for an ideology that claims it will usher in equality, Marxism certainly is fixated on economic class, color, gender, and race.  Apparently, some are more equal than others.  Instead of equal opportunity, Marxists favor the equity of prearranged outcomes.  Many Marxist spokespersons are often educated academics who pretend victimhood and fear competition in the real world yet believe they are smarter than everyone else.   They’ve learned nothing about good citizenship and wisdom, while displaying a common sense deficit.  Marxists envy folks who keep their noses to the grindstone, and lash out at those who possess discipline, deferred gratification, and a healthy work ethic.

Seventh, Marxists promise freedom and security to those who will join their cause, yet wealth is stolen from others, and security only exists for those at the top of the pyramid.  In other words, everyone is equally miserable under Marxism except for the jackbooted leaders who profit from the spoils acquired from their “legalized” theft.  For proof, just examine the misery index of folks in China PRC, Cuba, Iran, N. Korea, and Russia.

Eighth, it’s puzzling why Marxists who reside in free societies lack the courage to move to the autocratic societies they admire.  Is it because they don’t even believe the mantras they keep repeating, or do they want to have their cake and eat it, too?  They denounce the blessings of free enterprise and liberty at the same time as they partake of them.  Unfortunately, they have taken their blessings for granted.  Do they really want to transform America into a dysfunctional nation that has constant shortages of goods and services?

Ninth, Marxism promotes the darker facets of human nature rather than its nobler strivings.  Marxists turn lies into the truth and truth into lies.  They oppose the arts, constructive creativity, and innovation and constantly push monolithic groupthink instead of critical thinking.  In other words, Marxism is extremely boring and lacks a sense of humor.

Tenth, Marxists never learn from history and thus are doomed to repeat it, even after the carnage that’s been generated by their dystopian policies for over a century.  Someone once noted that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.  That’s the Marxist playbook in a nutshell.

Eleventh, Marxists glorify the vices and demonize traditional virtues even while they carry out plenty of virtue signaling.  They condescendingly lecture us about upholding democracy and liberty at the same time as they attempt to erode economic freedom, educational freedom, and individual freedom.

Finally, Marxism is highly immature.  Marxists rarely learn from the past and thus triple down on failure.  They blame others for their own fascist behavior, which is an example of denial and projection.  They demand to get what other folks have earned, which is childish and immoral.  Marxists side with totalitarian entities and mob rule, while opposing the sole Middle East democracy, Israel.  Most Marxists only embrace law enforcement when it is provided to protect unlawful immigrants and themselves, and when it is used to punish law-abiding folks. 

This is why it is imperative to vigorously oppose Marxism by all means necessary.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 23:25

"We Use Thicker Steel": Security Firm Fortifies HVAC Units Against Thieves

Copper wiring, light poles, catalytic converters, copper gutters, and even Tesla charging cables have long been targets for thieves.

But in crime-ridden metro areas governed by progressive or reformist socialist city halls that have adopted softer enforcement policies, where lefty prosecutors are perceived as unwilling to pursue property crimes, criminals have become increasingly emboldened.

They have moved beyond stealing industrial metals to taking entire outdoor HVAC units, prompting some homeowners and businesses to install heavy steel security cages around their condensers.

An Atlanta-based company called Ornamental Security published a viral Instagram video titled "Securing Your HVAC System," highlighting what appears to be a growing trend among homeowners: installing metal cages over outdoor condensers to prevent theft.

Ornamental Security's Instagram video was later reposted on X by Everything Georgia, where it went even more viral, drawing 2.6 million views in just one day.

HVAC thefts are geographically widespread, occurring in cities governed by both Democrats (Chicago, Louisville, District Heights/Prince George's County, Maryland) and Republicans (Jacksonville, FL; Midland, TX), as well as in Canada.

Recent reports:

In Maryland, WBFF 45 reported earlier this year:

Based:

We pay taxes to stop crime....Democrats use our tax dollars to support crime.

That is the problem.

— Raging Greek (@RagingGreek2) August 2, 2026

Just wait until tech companies start installing mini data centers in residential backyards. Thieves will move up the value chain, from stealing HVAC units to targeting Nvidia chips.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 23:00

Arming Local Police With Drones. Who Pulls The Trigger?

Authored by Burak Oktenli via RealClearDefense,

Last Sunday, the World Cup was played in New Jersey, capping a summer in which American stadiums have hosted the largest sporting event on earth. Federal planners saw the airspace problem coming: the executive order that reorganized America's counter-drone posture names the 2026 World Cup explicitly as an event to protect. What the planning has not yet produced is an answer to the question that will matter most if a drone crosses the stadium fence: whose call is it?

The legal landscape has transformed in thirteen months. Executive Order 14305, signed in June 2025, pushed detection funding to state and local agencies. Then the Safer Skies Act, passed in December's defense authorization, broke a decades-old federal monopoly: for the first time, trained and certified local police and correctional officers may seize, disable, or destroy a drone that poses a credible threat to people, large events, critical infrastructure, or prisons. Implementing rules from Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the FCC began arriving this month. Industry has done its part too; the interceptors, jammers, and radio-frequency takeover tools exist and are getting better.

Here is what does not yet exist: the authority layer. We have spent our energy deciding who may act and buying the tools to act with, while leaving the harder questions of how the decision gets made to be improvised at the venue gate. Start with the declaration problem. The statute authorizes force against a drone that poses a "credible threat," but a credible threat is a judgment call, and at a packed stadium it is a judgment call made in under a minute by whoever happens to hold the certification. Is the quadcopter over the parking lot a hostile payload, a hobbyist who ignored the flight restriction, or a broadcaster's camera platform that lost its transponder? Three different answers, three different lawful responses, one clock.

Then the handoff problem. A drone approaching a stadium can cross private property, city jurisdiction, county lines, and a federal security perimeter in ninety seconds. Venue security teams have no mitigation authority at all; certified local police have some; federal teams have more. The law creates layers of permission without specifying the moment or mechanism of transfer between them. Weeks of confused drone sightings over New Jersey in late 2024 already demonstrated how fast the question "who is in charge of this airspace" can go publicly unanswered. That was surveillance and speculation. Engagement is less forgiving.

And the evidence problem. Every engagement decision will be litigated, because the law has teeth on both edges: an officer who mitigates without required federal coordination faces civil penalties up to 100,000 dollars per violation, and a wrongful takedown over a crowd invites liability no city attorney wants to discover in real time. If the radio-frequency logs, radar tracks, and decision records of an engagement are not captured to an evidentiary standard, the program will lose in court what it won in Congress. None of this requires new technology. It requires an authority architecture agreed before the whistle, in three parts. Every protected event needs a named decision authority: one accountable official, designated in advance, who owns the hostile-or-not call, with a pre-planned line of succession. Jurisdictions need risk-based engagement windows: decisions, made in daylight and written down, about which responses are authorized at which distances and against which behaviors, so that the officer under the flight path executes a plan rather than invents one. And every engagement needs an evidence chain built in from the first sensor contact, so that what happened can be audited, prosecuted, and defended.

The rules now being written are the moment to set this architecture, and federal guidance is already urging venues and agencies to define roles, responsibilities, and response plans rather than improvising them on the night. The calendar is unkind: after this Sunday comes a Ryder Cup, a Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympics, each a mass gathering under an expanding drone threat. Retrofitting authority onto deployed hardware after the first bad night is how programs die.

The question at the stadium gate is no longer whether America can stop a drone. We can. The question is whether the officer looking up at one knows, before it arrives, whose decision it is, what response is authorized, and what record will protect that decision afterward. Congress opened the door to local counter-drone defense. Someone still must build the doorway.

Burak Oktenli is an independent researcher on the governance of authority in autonomous and AI-mediated systems and holds an MBA and a Master of Professional Studies in Applied Intelligence from Georgetown University. His writing has appeared at the Modern War Institute at West Point, RUSI, RealClearDefense, and The Space Review.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 22:35

The Real Reasons Why Funding For The Democrat Party Is Collapsing

Recent polling suggests that expectations of a "blue wave" in Congress for the 2026 mid-terms are crumbling fast, and as we examined recently, the Democrats are facing one of the biggest financial shortfalls in DNC history.  The organization has around $16 million of cash on hand for campaign operations after debts are counted.  The Republicans have over $129 million cash on hand with zero debt. 

In terms of super-PAC money, the Democrats have $334 million to draw from while Republicans have $1.06 billion.

The funding disparity could not be more obvious, but what is the cause?  What happened to the Democrat's massive cash apparatus - the same system that raised over $1 billion for the Kamala Harris campaign in 2024?  It's almost as if the money simply disappeared.

Some theories suggest that institutions like USAID were funneling cash into the DNC through various political NGOs and subsidies.  There is some validity to these claims.

Groups tied to NGO networks like the former Arabella Advisors (which managed large 501(c) funds handling over a billion dollars for advocacy, ballot measures, and political activity) saw scrutiny and restructuring after Donald Trump took office. These management groups contracted support for Democratic-aligned causes, messaging, voter mobilization, and infrastructure.  

One of the biggest supporters of Arabella Advisors was the Bill Gates Foundation, which cut ties with Arabella last year.  Arabella ceased operations in November of 2025 due to investigations into "Dark Money" funding. Interestingly, Democrat coffers have suffered significant declines after Arabella dissolved and rebranded as "Sunflower Services".  The organization also had numerous overlapping ties to USAID.

It should also be noted that employee contributions from USAID, the Department of Education and other organizations targeted by DOGE cuts were around 95% Democrat.  Huge swaths of the federal bureaucracy have long been run by the far-left.  Presidents come and go, but the bureaucracy is forever.

Beyond the dark money angle, much of the DNC's losses can be attributed to their own ideologically unhinged leadership.  Kamala Harris, for example, had nearly double the number of billionaire donors and corporate sponsors compared to Donald Trump, yet Trump won the election in a landslide and the Harris camp ended up with $22 million in debt.

Major donors including Bob Kerrigan and Reid Hoffman have pulled back from the DNC after the 2024 disaster, citing lack of faith in leadership and questions over the purpose of the Democratic Party.  

Finally, with the rise of fanatical Democrat Socialist candidates in blue city elections across the US, the Democrat Party is being treated as radioactive.  The more the party doubles down on woke, the less people like or trust them (Get Woke, Go Broke). 

It's unclear how well Democrats will perform in the mid-term elections this year given their financial problems, but it is often true that any party that can't get people to vote with their wallets is going to have a hard time getting people to show up at the polls.   

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 22:10

Israeli Finance Minister Requests Netanyahu Approve Three Jewish Settlements In Gaza 

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday repeated his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the establishment of three Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, as senior Israeli ministers continue to speak openly about their plans for permanent Israeli control of the Palestinian territory.

Smotrich made the call in a post on X, in which he referenced the withdrawal of settlements from Gaza and from an area of the northern West Bank, which he calls "northern Samaria," a policy known as the "disengagement." Israel is re-establishing the settlements in the northern West Bank, and he is calling for the same in Gaza.

via Reuters

In the post, Smotrich referenced the upcoming Israeli elections, warning that a "left-wing" government won't expand settlements as aggressively.

"Before us stands the choice, between a right-wing government that will continue the momentum of construction and expand it, and a dangerous left-wing government that openly declares its intention to evacuate settlements and outposts and to promote a 'political agreement,'"7 Smotrich said.

"And from northern Samaria – to Gaza! The Settlement Administration under my leadership is prepared to establish 3 settlements in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, and I call on the Prime Minister to give the green light to the move. Together we correct the sin of the disengagement," he added.

Smotrich also holds a ministerial position in the Israeli Defense Ministry, where he oversees the Settlement Administration. He first announced in June that the body had drawn up plans for three settlements in Gaza and was just waiting for the green light from Netanyahu.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, has also said that Israel will establish three "Nachala outposts" - a type of settlement that starts as a community for IDF soldiers with the goal of establishing a permanent civilian presence.

Katz recently boasted of the destruction of Gaza cities during a visit to the northern part of the Strip. When asked how the view of the destruction made him feel, the Israeli minister said, "I feel good. Thank God. This is all the result of a deliberate policy aimed at removing threats. Instead of the raid method—going in and out—the IDF is inside, the terrorists are outside, and the houses are destroyed."

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 21:45

SpaceX In "Final Stages" Of Securing New Massive Rocket Launch Site In Louisiana

Several Louisiana media outlets report that Elon Musk's SpaceX is in the "final stages" of securing approximately 130,000 acres on Pecan Island for a massive new spaceport to launch rockets into orbit.

The Times-Picayune reports a source with knowledge about the deal said SpaceX is poised to take control of roughly 130,000 acres at Pecan Island - more specifically, the coastal Vermilion Parish - as part of a settlement resolving long-running coastal lawsuits against ExxonMobil. Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to announce the agreement this month.

The outlet KPEL provided additional details:

Gov. Landry announced a settlement of the coastal lawsuits in June. Under that agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, ExxonMobil is expected to turn over land it has owned in Vermilion Parish since the 1950s, property long leased out for hunting and fishing. The terms have not been made public.

SpaceX would then take control of the site, with provisions built in for coastal restoration and protection, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

Landry has confirmed the coastal settlement but declined to discuss the SpaceX deal specifically, and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois has offered no comment either. SpaceX hasn't named Louisiana directly, though the company acknowledged in a social media post that it's scouting new sites to expand Starship launch operations.

KPEL explained why Pecan Island best fits SpaceX's launch requirements:

Pecan Island has a permanent population of about 100 people along Louisiana Highway 82. Aerospace experts point to a handful of reasons that sparse setting appeals to SpaceX: deep-water access along the Intracoastal Waterway for barging in rocket hardware, a location roughly midway between the company's Texas and Florida facilities, and a local supply of natural gas. SpaceX has also told regulators it wants to launch up to a million low-Earth-orbit satellites in the coming years, a plan that will require more launch pads.

Everything Elon Musk blog Elon Chron's S.E. Robinson, Jr. wrote on X:

SPACEX: Louisiana State Senator Bob Hensgens, who represents Vermilion Parish, confirmed yesterday, ongoing talks between "a space exploration company" and Exxon-Mobil for the potential purchase of 136,000 acres south of Hwy La. 14, west of Intracoastal City, north/south of Pecan Island, extending to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Cameron Parish.

The land is owned by Exxon-Mobil with surface rights managed by Vermilion Corporation. Hensgens could not name the space company, but stated he declined to sign a non-disclosure agreement for transparency purposes.

There is also talk about the possible construction of a coastal levee. The area is prone to hurricanes, so this would be a necessity.

More SpaceX news in today's ELON CHRON below!

SPACEX: Louisiana State Senator Bob Hensgens, who represents Vermilion Parish, confirmed yesterday, ongoing talks between "a space exploration company" and Exxon-Mobil for the potential purchase of 136,000 acres south of Hwy La. 14, west of Intracoastal City, north/south of Pecan… https://t.co/nSHbWqikKZ pic.twitter.com/HCwKGbco4G

— S.E. Robinson, Jr. (@SERobinsonJr) May 8, 2026

If SpaceX secures the Pecan Island site, it would establish the company's second major Starship launch complex, alongside Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, where it already employs 3,400 people. SpaceX is the world's leading launch provider, beating out entire nation states, and continues to rapidly expand its rocket and AI-driven manufacturing capabilities.

A second SpaceX launch site in Louisiana would be transformative for the state. The project is expected to create thousands of construction jobs during the build-out; although only a fraction of the 130,000-acre site would be developed, the remainder would serve as a safety and environmental buffer. Once operational, the launch, manufacturing, engineering, and support workforce could number in the thousands, establishing a major new aerospace hub along the Gulf Coast.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 21:20

Capital One Cites Anti-Money Laundering Review Over Trump Organization Debanking Claims

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times,

Capital One asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, part of the Trump Organization, claiming that the bank's 2021 debanking of hundreds of Trump-linked accounts followed an internal anti-money laundering review and not the political discrimination the plaintiffs allege.

President Donald Trump prepares to board Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., on Aug. 2, 2026. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

In a motion to dismiss filed on July 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida before Judge Roy Altman, Capital One said the accounts were terminated after a review by anti-money-laundering experts.

The filing said that "documents and Plaintiffs' own allegations make clear that Capital One closed Plaintiffs' accounts for anti-money laundering (AML) reasons."

"The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One's AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance," it added.

Capital One said in the filing that the Trump Organization's allegations of political pretext were "misguided" and "based on cherry-picked quotations unsupported by the full context" of documents submitted to the court.

It did not accuse the Trump Organization of money laundering.

The case, filed in 2025, focuses on Capital One's March 2021 decision to close deposit accounts held by the Trump Organization and related entities.

Capital One informed the Trump Organization in March 2021 that "hundreds" of its bank accounts would be closed by June 7, 2021, according to an original lawsuit filed by The Trump Organization and Eric Trump, the president's son, in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in March 2025.

The plaintiffs said they believed Capital One was harboring "unsubstantiated, woke" beliefs that "it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views," which they alleged motivated the bank to abruptly close the organizations' accounts.

At the time, Capital One told The Epoch Times that it "has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons."

Capital One's recent filing said the rules governing the accounts allow it to "close any account in our sole discretion at any time for any or no reason."

Capital One's first attempt to dismiss the case, filed in May 2025, was withdrawn after the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint the following month.

Its second attempt succeeded in March this year, when a judge dismissed the case but gave the plaintiffs another chance to refile.

Capital One is now asking the court to dismiss the current complaint and said that the latest version "suffers from the same fundamental flaws as their prior two pleadings."

President Donald Trump also filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase in January over alleged debanking.

Alejandro Brito, the president's personal attorney, filed a $5 billion lawsuit on Jan. 22 in Miami's Florida state court on behalf of the president and his hospitality companies.

Following the January 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol, the largest bank in the United States shuttered the accounts of Trump and his related entities.

JPMorgan told The Epoch Times that the case "has no merit."

Trump signed an executive order in August 2025 to stop banks from denying people financial services because of their political or religious beliefs, a practice known as debanking.

According to a White House fact sheet, the executive order requires federal banking regulators to investigate whether banks have engaged in "politicized or unlawful debanking" and to issue penalties such as "fines or consent decrees."

The order also directs regulators to remove terms such as "reputational risk" from their guidance - language that has allegedly been used to justify debanking.

The Trump Organization and Capital One did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times' requests for comment.

Troy Myers, Andrew Moran, and Emel Akan contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 20:55

"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" Crushes Woke Odyssey Film At Box Office

Hollywood pulled out all the stops for "The Odyssey" - They relied heavily on director Christopher Nolan's built-in and generally pretentious audience to drive early box office revenues. 

The hype machine was running non-stop for months before the release.  The distributor's focused heavily on IMAX ticket sales, which cost more than double a normal theater ticket. They attempted to hide the woke content of the film from the public for as long as possible (an ancient Greek epic with no Greeks, featuring black, Asian, Hispanic and trans actors with a story that deconstructs the hero's journey of Odysseus, making him into a broken shell of a man.  Historical inaccuracies and modernization are rampant in the movie.

Critical websites also froze the audience ratings above 95% by rejecting most negative reviews. 

Despite all of this, The Odyssey's early box office was not impressive compared to most blockbuster movies.  It didn't even break the top 60 movies for opening weekend revenues (adjusted for inflation).  The political left rushed onto social media to declare victory, claiming that "Get Woke, Go Broke is over". 

Then, Spider Man: Brand New Day opened and ate The Odyssey's lunch, showing how a real blockbuster is supposed to perform.  

For its opening weekend, Spider Man raked in $927 million worldwide - Compare that to The Odyssey's $264 million global box office for the first weekend. Spider Man crushed The Odyssey without trying.  Spider Man is projected to make around $2.5 billion in the next few weeks while Nolan's movie is struggling to hit $1 billion.  If Nolan had made a non-woke movie, maybe he would have had better numbers.

The Odyssey's theater take sounds like a success, despite being easily surpassed by Spider Man.  However, with all the bluster over the film's "woke triumph", leftists are avoiding an inconvenient truth: The Odyssey has yet to make a single penny in raw profit.  

Nolan's woke translation has brought in $911 million after three weeks, but it needs around $950 million just to break even.  This is accounting for marketing costs, theaters taking their 50% cut, and Nolan taking his own 20% cut of revenues as part of his contract.  Will the Odyssey break even?  Probably, but Universal Studios will be straining to make any meaningful profit from the production.

Nolan will be laughing all the way to the bank, but distributors will not be as fortunate.  Spider Man has already surpassed the break even point and made a profit.

In the end, The Odyssey will represent nothing more than a woke vanity project for a director who is fading in talent. Nolan says he may be taking several years away from the business after Odyssey, which means Hollywood expended all its ammunition on one last stand.   

The Hollywood model has long been to force progressive content on audiences while ignoring public pleas for less propaganda.  In the minds of the elites, the masses must be conditioned over time to accept wokeness.  They believe that if they saturate the market for long enough, movie-goers will eventually capitulate and accept woke as the new normal.  This has not happened. 

Instead, nearly every woke movie and streaming series has failed, losing the industry billions in cumulative production costs.  Studios have been forced in the past couple of years to return to less political messaging and more classic entertainment. 

The Odyssey is a defiant rebellion, specifically designed as a vehicle to revitalize the Hollywood argument in favor of woke content.  Yet, compared to non-woke movies, the profit margin is looking dismal.

The political left never learns, they only double down on failure and convince themselves that their own propaganda is reality.  Even if one considers The Odyssey a "success" for making it's money back, how many woke movies can Christopher Nolan possibly direct?  One every few years?  No other director has a similar simp audience to lean on. 

Meaning, The Odyssey is likely the last gasp, the death rattle of far-left content gaining any momentum in theaters for years to come.  One woke movie breaking even does not make up for hundreds of box office disasters.     

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 20:30