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Welcome To FAFOland

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Clusterfuck Nation,

". . . the worse they become, the more they blame you for it."

- El Gato Malo on the Lefty-left

As the Democratic Party pulls out all the stops to make itself ridiculous, their proxy warriors in the federal judiciary play chicken with the executive branch on sane, uniform standards for mail-in ballots. The Democrats don't want sane, uniform standards for mail-in ballots because they are insane. They want to "defend Democracy" with mail-in ballot chaos. Democracy is their flabby rubric for any artifice or subterfuge that beats a path to power so they can continue their racketeering operations. Yes, it's that simple.

The president issued executive order (EO) 14399 in March directing the Postmaster General to make rules for federal mail-in / absentee ballots where chaos and cheating have prevailed since the Covid prank was used to vastly expand mail-in voting. These new rules include a standard envelope with a bar code to establish a coherent, trackable chain-of-custody for each ballot. Mail-in ballots have become the preferred vehicle for voter fraud based on motor-voter registration of non-citizens, "harvesting" of untrackable ballots, drop-box stuffing, and vote-counting machine shenanigans.

The EO requires states to submit lists of their voters to whom they intend to send mail-in ballots. The USPS is ordered to transmit mail-in ballots only from qualified voters listed on the state rolls, that is, matching ballots to qualified voters at real mailing addresses. Twenty-four states have sued to block all this. They refuse to submit their state's voter rolls to the USPS. The lawsuit landed magically in the Boston court of Democratic Party activist federal judge Indira Talwani, who has blocked, lifted, and re-blocked the EO - reversing her own decisions. In the course of all that, SCOTUS ruled that Judge Talwani made procedural errors.

The matter remains unresolved. The point of all the legal rigmarole is to delay action so as to invoke the Purcell principle (from SCOTUS, 2006, Purcell v. Gonzalez), which established a judicial protocol (not a statute) that federal courts should avoid changing election rules close to elections. In other words, it's a judicial suggestion. The case involving the twenty-four states could return to SCOTUS, or SCOTUS could decline based on Purcell.

Meanwhile, Congress does not return to full session (with the Senate) until September 14. Chances are slim-to-zero that they will manage to pass the SAVE Act, or that its provisions would be allowed to apply to the midterm election if, somehow, they did pass it. This leaves the president with only one option: to issue a National Security (NatSec) Executive Order to provide for coherent election procedure. That might include the provisions in the SAVE Act - voter ID, proof of citizenship - but could even go further to ban computerized tabulation machines, greatly restrict absentee ballots, and require results within twenty-four hours of one-only election day. Maybe even place ICE agents at polling places . . . the horror!

Such a NatSec EO would be immune from lawsuits in the federal court. On January 6, 2017 outgoing Homeland Security Sec'y Jeh Johnson (Obama admin) declared election infrastructure a critical part of government facilities "vital to our national interests." In September, 2018, President Trump declared a national emergency (EO 13848) over the threat of foreign interference in US elections. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976 (50 U.S.C. § 1622), a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress is necessary to overturn such an EO. That September 2018 national emergency declaration was continued officially by "Joe Biden" and remains in-force. Good luck with that, Democrats.

Okay, so what happens then, when Mr. Trump invokes that NatSec EO on emergency election procedure sometime in mid-September after Congress fails?

I will tell you: a constitutional crisis.

The Democratic-led blue states will refuse to participate in the election. Yeah, they'll go that far - because they are insane.

The president will respond forcefully, invoking the federal Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article VI, Clause 2), which states that federal law avails over the states. States can't nullify or contradict it. The president might have to arrest some Democratic governors and hasten them into special military courts on insurrection charges. Henceforth, this will be known as the FAFO protocol.

Will there be riots?

Probably, though just now Treasury Secretary Bessent is apparently considering the termination of tax exemptions - loss of 501(c)(3) status - for George Soros's Open Society Foundations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Southern Poverty Law Center, and others who finance street actions by the Lefty-left. No money for snack shacks, water bottles, and Froggie costumes.

Will the country survive the trauma?

I think so. The election will be held one way or another, even if it's a month late. If anything, the midterm election might be the tombstone of the Democratic Party. The way things are tending, they've got nothing left but insurrection, and that's probably not a winning move. Mr. Trump apparently loves renaming things geographical. Maybe he can change the USA to FAFOland.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 16:20

Arizona Border Wall Construction Begins, Targets Smuggling Corridor

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration has begun work on a project to build a stretch of border wall in southern Arizona.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Aug. 25 that the wall project is located along "one of the most dangerous smuggling and trafficking corridors on the Southwest border."

The wall segment is part of a $46.6 billion effort by the Trump administration to fill the border with 30-foot steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and technology designed to stop illegal immigration.

A federal judge permitted the government to move forward with construction earlier this month.

Authorities said the desert spanning the Tohono O'odham Nation is a hotspot for drug smuggling.

"The project will close one of the most dangerous smuggling and trafficking corridors on the Southwest border: remote desert that has facilitated decades of drug loads, migrant deaths, and cartel activity," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in an Aug. 25 statement.

SLSCO, the Texas-based construction company building the section in Arizona, has secured over $390 million in funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to build the border wall since 2023.

The construction company is building 22 miles of primary border wall system and approximately 13 miles of detection technology. These contracts were awarded using funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The project ran into opposition from the Native American tribe, the Tohono O'odham Nation, who said the project would inflict lasting damage on its land, culture, and religious practices.

The Tohono O'odham Nation filed a motion in June to block construction of the border wall. However, a federal judge on Aug. 14 declined to do so.

In an Aug. 24 statement, the Tohono O'odham Nation said that at 4 a.m on Tuesday, border wall contractors and approximately 20 masked, armed CBP agents from the Tucson Sector entered the Tohono O'odham Nation and began "engaging in pre-construction activities."

It said that CBP, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit SWAT Team were deployed to the Nation to protect the contractors, and that federal authorities are using a tethered balloon for enhanced monitoring.

It added that DHS coordinated with Mexican police to have them deploy personnel to protect the area from the southern side while border wall contractors were working.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said in an Aug. 26 statement that dozens of armed agents on the Nation's land had been sent "without so much as a heads up or warning."

A CBP spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times that the agency's priority is to implement President Donald Trump's executive order 14165, "Securing Our Borders," and proclamation 10142, "Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States."

"We are building border infrastructure faster and smarter than ever before to ensure there are no gaps and no easy pathways for illegal entry," he said.

Shadow Wolves

The Tohono O'odham Nation covers 2.8 million acres, including a 76-mile stretch of land shared with Mexico.

Between 2010 and 2020, interdiction and investigative efforts that trained DHS officers, known as Shadow Wolves, have led or participated in have resulted in 437 drug and immigration arrests, along with the seizure of over 117,264 pounds of drugs, 45 weapons, 251 vehicles, and $847,928 in U.S. currency.

The Shadow Wolves are the DHS's only Native American tracking unit assigned in Sells, Arizona, located on the Tohono O'odham Nation that runs along the Mexico - United States border

Shadow Wolves use modern technology and a traditional Native American tracking technique called "cutting for sign," which means they locate and interpret any physical evidence left by smugglers and decode its meaning. Examples of physical evidence include footprints, tire tracks, thread, and clothing.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the name "Shadow Wolves" refers to the unit's hunting style, similar to that of a wolf pack.

The team specializes in the "interdiction of human and drug smugglers who conduct their illegal operations through the rugged terrain of the Sonoran Desert."

ICE said that all of the Shadows Wolves must have at least one-fourth Native American ancestry.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:45

Trump Takes A Cleaver To "Big Meat" Monopoly, Moves To Let Mom-And-Pop Ranchers Process Own Meat

President Trump's move to dismantle what Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has called the "modern-day monopoly" in U.S. beef processing reflects growing concern that industry concentration has become a food-security vulnerability.

Four corporations, JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef, dominate cattle purchasing and processing, creating single points of failure across the nation's beef supply chain. This consolidation has reduced local processing capacity, weakened regional food supply chains and shifted pricing power away from independent ranchers and farmers.

Now, President Trump is changing the game with plans to break the meatpacking monopoly by allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own food.

"For years I have heard that they have had a tremendous problem with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly. There are, essentially, 4 of them, a very non-competitive number, and they make life miserable for our wonderful Farmers and Ranchers," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He continued, "So, in order to break this powerful monopoly, with much of its ownership based outside of the U.S., I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD."

"This should move quickly," the president added.

The administration has already opened an antitrust investigation into the meatpacking industry. Roughly 85% of U.S. cattle are purchased by four companies: Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS and National Beef Packing.

A total of 4 companies control a whopping 80% of the entire beef-processing industry. That's a modern-day monopoly.

The winners here? The monopolists - like Tyson Foods. The losers? Farmers & grocery shoppers.

We need more industry competition in America pic.twitter.com/UxZc7eoAOZ

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 24, 2025

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said additional measures will be announced Monday, including plans to waive processing regulations and expand ranchers' ability to sell meat across state lines.

Meanwhile, Thomas Massie wants this to be law.

This is great, but it should be a law, not just an executive order. My PRIME Act has dozens of bipartisan sponsors in the House & Senate. A pilot program for it is in the House farm bill. Pass the PRIME Act so consumers can get affordable U.S. beef and farmers can flourish! 🇺🇸🥩 pic.twitter.com/sSaYH2Nk9g

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 28, 2026

Vertical integration gives mom-and-pop ranchers something increasingly scarce in American agriculture: absolute control. By raising, processing, and packaging beef within the same operation, ranchers can retain more of the value they create, reduce transportation costs, and build a shorter, more resilient food supply chain.

That model is why the ZeroHedge Store partnered with Beck Ranch - which raises its Black Angus cattle on grass-fed pastures without grain, hormones, or antibiotics, and as of October 5th will be processed on-site rather than entering the industrial meatpacking plants. Currently they process locally outside of the big four meatpackers. 

For readers who care about knowing where their food comes from, Beck Ranch offers a direct connection to an independent American producer. Every purchase supports a family-run ranch while helping prove that a decentralized alternative.

... already operating on the ZeroHedge Store. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:25

Uprising In Ceuta: Locals Have Had Enough Of Migrant Invasion

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

In the complete absence of any meaningful government action, the people of Ceuta have taken matters into their own hands.

On Wednesday night, Spanish flags filled the streets of the North African enclave. Crowds chanted for deportations. Then a column of residents pushed toward El Trampolín beach, the open-air settlement that has occupied a family shoreline for nearly a month. Tents came down. Belongings went into the sea.

Police formed a line between Spaniards and the camps - and opened fire with rubber bullets on the locals.

Thousands of locals in Ceuta took to the street today to chant:

"Deport the illegal migrants"

?? pic.twitter.com/WF2pZPpMBK

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

That is the picture now coming out of a city of roughly 84,000 people that was flooded at the end of July by a crossing Spanish officials have put above 70,000 and, in some tallies, near 80,000.

The government spent weeks talking about "coexistence," "diversity," and "normality." Ceuta spent those same weeks living with feces in children's parks, hospital wards under strain, and a rising stack of sexual-assault files. On Wednesday, the patience snapped.

?? Ceuta residents have taken to the streets to protest the Spanish government's handling of the migration crisis and demand the removal of migrants from public areas.

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/QdlyKOwB4J

— Europa.com (@europa) August 27, 2026

The protest began in the late afternoon in O'Donnell, outside the old Military Hospital - one of the sites residents feared the central government wanted to turn into migrant housing.

El Mundo put more than 2,000 people at the Government Delegation. Other Spanish outlets described a larger march through the centre, Spanish and Ceuta flags everywhere, slogans hammered out for hours: "Ceuta no se vende, Ceuta se defiende." "Un caballa nunca se rinde." "Invasores expulsión." "Ceuta no es un CETI."

They demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and of the government delegate in the city, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano.

?BREAKING: Hundreds of patriots in Ceuta have STORMED the beaches on which the invaders have been camping on and are tearing down tents

All of Europe supports them. ?? pic.twitter.com/q6qBxMqzdm

— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) August 26, 2026

When night fell, a few hundred broke toward El Trampolín. El Español reported residents ripping down tents, throwing camp gear into the water, and trying to drive the remaining occupants off "our beach."

BREAKING:

The Spanish police have opened fire on crowds in Ceuta tonight. They are shooting rubber bullets.

They are shooting at Spaniards protesting against illegal migration. They didn't fire rubber bullets at the 70 000 illegal migrants when they stormed Ceuta in July. pic.twitter.com/hF82rJJdSd

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

Police blocked the main part of the beach. Deterrent rounds followed. Yes, really. They fired rubber bullets at Spaniards protesting illegal settlement; but there was no such volley when tens of thousands illegally stormed the border in July.

? #URGENTE | Los ceutíes revientan los asentamientos ilegales de los invasores y les echan de la playa.

Honor al pueblo de Ceuta, que está partiéndose los cojones frente a la inacción de todo el Estado. pic.twitter.com/YNkVKxiJkQ

— Vito Quiles ?? (@vitoquiles) August 26, 2026

Spanish journalist Vito Quiles remarked on Ceutíes bursting the illegal beach settlements while the Spanish state stood still. "Honor al pueblo de Ceuta," he wrote - honour to a city doing the job the ministries would not.

Further footage captured groups of local men moving through the dark after the official march had broken up, describing armed residents hunting those they call invaders. After four weeks of official paralysis in the city, locals took matters into their own hands.

This is footage of armed Ceuta locals hunting down invading barbarians tonight.

It looks like an uprising has started. pic.twitter.com/CsVel0I3Zn

— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) August 26, 2026

One chant captured on the sand, reported by El Mundo, summarised the feeling among residents; "Si no se quieren ir, los echaremos nosotros." If they will not leave, we will throw them out.

They also chanted "Aquí hay más policía que el día del salto," there are more police than on the day of the mass jump.

Officers who had been unable or unwilling to keep the shoreline clear of shacks suddenly had the numbers to stop Spaniards from finishing the clearance themselves.

A left-wing government that spent a month insisting the situation was under control found the will to fire on its own citizens the moment those citizens tried to recover a public beach.

By Thursday morning the temperature had risen again. AFP reported that a military vehicle with four soldiers was ambushed in the early hours by a crowd of around 70 migrants throwing stones and other objects.

?? Four Spanish soldiers were injured in Ceuta after about 40 illegal African migrants attacked their unarmored army jeep with stones.

The soldiers were forced to abandon the vehicle and flee on foot while being pursued and struck. The injured soldiers received medical... pic.twitter.com/C6hYJ3T53B

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 27, 2026

The soldiers fled and called for police. Twelve Moroccan men were detained. One soldier was slightly injured. Kissy Chandiramani, Ceuta's finance councillor, stated: "The tension in the city of Ceuta is very high" because there is "no response" from the government and "we feel abandoned."

Remaining migrant shanty camps on the beach were set alight and destroyed.

? Se han vivido momentos de verdadera tensión en la playa de Benítez, se ha prendido fuego en el asentamiento de inmigrantes.#Ceuta #Inmigración #FronteraSur pic.twitter.com/jQx3OS4mU5

— El Faro de Ceuta (@ElFarodeCeuta) August 27, 2026

Ya se colmó la gota que llenó el vaso.

Los ceutíes se toman la acción por sus propias manos y destrozan el campamento de ilegales en la playa de el Trampolín.

Todo mi apoyo a los valientes y a todo el pueblo ceutí frente al abandono.

Echadlos ya como podáis....

— Javier Negre (@javiernegre10) August 27, 2026

City hall, aid groups counting food rations, and anyone with eyes on Trampolín, Benítez, the hills and the warehouse district nite that thousands of migrants remain.

We've seen Mother weeping on live television. One said her 16-year-old "has to go everywhere with her father or with me because the migrants devour her. I can't take it anymore. I want them all gone," Adding that "What's stayed here is the worst of it; there are murderers, rapists, thieves."

Sisters Yoli and María José pulled their daughters out of the city. "We feel humiliated, trampled," Yoli told Cuatro. "I have had to take my daughters out of their house because the Government does nothing, because Mr. Pedro Sánchez is on vacation in La Mareta. Nobody cares about us."

Beaches that used to hold families became camps of reed huts, plastic, rotting food, urine and human waste. Children's parks were left smeared in shit.

Hospitals opened emergency capacity. Doctors speak of scabies, tuberculosis, impetigo and a "health catastrophe."

A BBVA branch closed after a security guard was beaten trying to stop a robbery of an elderly woman. Women described needing escorts to their own front doors.

This was the "example of coexistence" Inclusion Minister Elma Saiz chose to praise from a distance. "Ceuta is a true example of coexistence," she said. "A city in which different cultures, traditions, and faiths coexist. And which has demonstrated over decades that it is one of its greatest strengths." Diversity, she added, is "our greatest strength." The parks full of excrement did not make the speech.

Police unions have described girls and women glued to police vans near the CETI because the moment they step away they are raped. There are accounts of daily assaults, of victims too frightened to report, of attacks moving into the hills where patrols cannot easily follow.

Reports also describe "many dead cats, cut," some missing half a body or pierced, plus half-eaten pigeons and seagulls in the areas where migrants are camping.

Theo latest footage confirms that so called progressive NGO workers are still operating in the city, even handing pepper spray to illegal migrants during Wednesday's clashes - kit for use against the local Spaniards coming down to the beach.

Progressive NGOs are out on the streets of Ceuta tonight handing out pepper spray to illegal migrants so that they can use the pepper spray against local Spaniards in tonight's clashes

?? pic.twitter.com/zWytPqsFc4

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 26, 2026

Another clip shows Gaza Barbie, a leftist agitator, joining migrant groups to chant "Free Palestine".

While terrified mothers are trying to get these men kicked out of Ceuta

This liberal woman chants "Free Palestine" with them

Some people just cannot be saved pic.twitter.com/SmA8W1gdzi

— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) August 27, 2026

This woman has spent the entirety of August filming herself fleetingly appearing near migrant groups, insisting the streets are safe and dismissing frightened neighbours as xenophobes.

Meanwhile, Spanish television new captured a Moroccan invader explaining that Spanish girls being raped should surprise no one, because they walk alone, and that the fault lies with parents who do not keep them at home.

This moroccan animal here saying on Spanish TV that it is obvious that Spanish girls are being raped, because they walk alone. And that it is the fault of their parents for not keeping them at home.
Islam is a dangerous thing.
And we need to fight it pic.twitter.com/VEh9eheFft

— Jose Muniz (@joseletemuniz) August 27, 2026

On Thursday, residents blocked a Red Cross food convoy headed for the beach camps, forcing them to eventually leave.

Spaniards blocking the red cross from entering Ceuta to aid the invaders.

pic.twitter.com/NJ2KUmuXUp

— Tommy Robinson ?? (@TRobinsonNewEra) August 27, 2026

?BREAKING: After intense pressure from local residents the Red Cross has been forced to leave Ceuta

They will not be giving aid to illegal migrant any more pic.twitter.com/HSRhFMbbg0

— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) August 27, 2026

Locals want the illegal camps gone. They want deportations of those with no asylum claim. They want their daughters able to walk without a male escort. They want parks that are not toilets.

They want a government that treats a Spanish city as Spanish territory rather than a holding pen for rapists, murderers and other criminals.

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 Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:11

FBI Director Blasts CBC's Editorial Choice Not To Call 9/11 A Terrorist Attack

Authored by Jennifer Cowan via The Epoch Times,

The director of the FBI is criticizing a CBC News directive for its journalists to avoid using the term "terrorist attacks" during 25th anniversary coverage of the 9/11 terror plot that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

The memorandum directed to CBC News personnel instructed staff to stay away from terms like "terrorist" or "terrorism" and to instead use descriptions like "hijackings" to describe the attacks executed by Islamic terrorist organization al-Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks," reads the memo penned by CBC News senior director of journalistic standards and public trust Basem Boshra. "The hijackings led to passenger jet crashes in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Manhattan. The World Trade Center (WTC in second reference) was destroyed."

FBI Director Kash Patel took to social media to comment on CBC's policy.

"Any agency in Canada that doesn't publicly reject this bastardization of history, and an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in US history will no longer have [a] friend in this FBI... Not to mention our heroes that responded in the aftermath," Patel wrote.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra shared Patel's comment on social media and noted that the FBI has been "directly responsible" for thwarting terrorist and criminal operations in Canada.

"Failure to recognize and confront radical and terrorist ideologies significantly endangers our efforts to establish and harmonize a shared national and economic security partnership," he said.

The CBC says the memo, which was shared on social media by Toronto Sun columnist Warren Kinsella, was reiterating a long-standing policy to maintain journalistic neutrality.

"It is the practice of the CBC to exercise extreme caution before using the words terrorist and terrorism," CBC Public Affairs Director Kerry Kelly said in a statement to The Epoch Times. "The memo was a reminder of the longstanding practice that favours the use of these terms with attribution in our reporting, a practice shared by many of the world's top journalistic organizations."

Kelly said the CBC's job is to accurately report the facts, to quote the people affected, and to convey the views of officials and experts when atrocities occur.

"We bear witness," she added. "But CBC News does not itself designate specific groups as terrorists, or specific acts as terrorism, regardless of the region or the events, because these words are so loaded with meaning, politics and emotion that they can end up being impediments to our journalism."

The Conservatives are also criticizing the CBC directive. Tory MPM Rachel Thomas, whose shadow minister portfolio of Canadian Identity and Culture includes scrutiny over the public broadcaster, said the directive is "shameful."

She noted that 24 Canadians were among the thousands killed by al-Qaeda during the series of attacks that caused two planes to strike the World Trade Centre, one to hit the Pentagon in Virginia, and another to crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

She also accused the CBC News in a separate post of redefining terrorism "in a way that downplays the atrocity of 9/11."

"Refusing to call it an act of terrorism dishonours the victims, their families, the survivors, and the first responders who witnessed the horrors of that day," said Thomas. "Trying to sanitize or rewrite that history is deeply offensive and does a disservice to everyone who was affected by the attacks."

Thomas is demanding CBC " issue a clear apology" and said the person responsible for the memo should be fired.

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Lawton commented on the issue as well, calling the broadcaster's policy "truly disgusting."

"CBC journalists have been directed not to refer to what happened on 9/11 as terrorist attacks," he wrote. "Taxpayers give CBC $1.4 billion every year to be gaslit."

CBC is expected to receive $1.38-billion in federal government funding for fiscal 2026-2027, down from the $1.58-billion designated for the public broadcaster in the previous fiscal year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has frequently described the public broadcaster as "the most important of Canadian institutions."

He included CBC as a pillar in his election campaign last spring, saying a well-funded public broadcaster is crucial for preserving Canadian culture and national identity while serving as a reliable forum to counter foreign misinformation.

Ongoing Policy

The publicly funded broadcaster has also come under scrutiny by the Opposition for telling its journalists not to use the word "terrorist" when referring to Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israeli civilians.

The public broadcaster, in a leaked email from CBC Director of Journalistic Standards George Achi, advised journalists against saying Gaza has not been occupied by Israel since 2005, and instructed them not to refer to "militants, soldiers, or anyone else" as "terrorists."

The instructions came after Hamas launched rocket attacks on Israel, killing 1,200 civilians and also took hostages, including children, to Gaza.

The Conservatives and some members of the public demanded an investigation into the matter. An inquiry by the broadcaster's ombudsman later found that CBC had not breached its own journalistic standards by avoiding the use of the word "terrorist."

"CBC's practice of referring to Hamas as terrorists only with attribution adheres to the corporation's journalistic standards," CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler said in his decision.

Kelly told The Epoch Times that CBC News editor in chief and general manager Brodie Fenlon addressed the matter in an October 2023 blog post, noting that the broadcaster's policy hasn't changed and also applies to content about 9/11.

The 9/11 terror plot was the most lethal series of terrorist attacks in U.S. history. The al-Qaeda -orchestrated attacks killed 2,976 people and injured thousands more.

Al-Qaeda has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States since 1999. Public Safety Canada listed the organization as a terror group in 2002.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:05

Rate-Hike Odds Spike As Chair Warsh Tilts Hawkish, Questions AI Productivity Timing, Prefers "Quieter" Fed

Update (1000ET): The speech was hawkish in substance (see full remarks below) - Warsh framed inflation as the clear priority, said financial conditions are not restrictive, and set a high bar (“confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed”) - while refusing to pre-commit to a September hike.

Rate-hike odds are rising rapidly...

Polymarket odds of a September hike are surging...

But the market remains confused... or just cherry-picking what it wants to hear...

Gold down on Warsh hawkish comments
Bonds, bitcoin flat on Warsh neutral comments
Stocks jump to HOD on Warsh dovish comments

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 28, 2026

But one thing they are sure about is the yield curve which is flattening dramatically, erasing all of the post-FOMC steepening...

With Warsh tilting hawkish at the short-end, and Bessent with his thumb on the long-end scale, it's no real surprise.

Key points AI and the longer-term outlook

• Warsh called AI a “hinge point” with potential for substantially higher growth, citing exploding token sales and a “hyper-Moore’s law.”

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said during his speech in Jackson Hole today that we've come to a hinge point in history thanks to AI.

I think he is right. The economic setup has changed in a material way. AI progress is running ahead of even the optimistic case from two years ago, and… pic.twitter.com/yZo7QoYg1o

— Patrick F. Feeley (@PFFeeley) August 28, 2026

• He posed open questions on productivity timing, whether AI complements or substitutes for labor, capital intensity, and how surplus will be distributed.

• A productivity-and-jobs task force is working on this; its findings will not affect current policy decisions.

Forward guidance and markets

• He restated his opposition to regular forward guidance, calling it a crisis-era tool that has “overstayed its welcome.”

• He warned of a “hall-of-mirrors” problem in which the Fed and markets feed off each other and miss turning points.

• He rejected publishing an explicit reaction function or mechanical rule, arguing the economy is too uncertain and that 2021-style guidance delayed the response to inflation.

• Markets should form their own views from real data; the Fed should not be the primary source of the next trade.

Seven principles

1. Use contemporaneous, accurate data and trends - not stale or isolated prints.

2. Supply/demand balance can only be inferred, not observed directly.

3. The 2% PCE target is firm and fixed; inflation is not automatically mean-reverting.

4. The dual mandate is not a trade-off; high inflation itself damages employment and prosperity.

5. The policy rate is the main tool; unconventional tools belong only in genuine crises.

6. “Money matters” - watch the monetary base and bank-created money.

7. A quieter, more purposeful Fed is more accountable.

Current economy

Output and labor are solid: capex strong (much of it AI-related), profits up ~20%, credit spreads tight, lending standards easy, PDFP running near 3%, unemployment 4.1% and claims very low. He described this as consistent with full employment and said broad financial conditions are not restrictive.

Inflation is the problem: 12-month PCE at 3.7%, 6-month at 4.1%. Roughly half of PCE components are still rising more than 3%. Summer readings were better than expected but “do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.”

Medium-term inflation expectations remain well-anchored, which he credited to the institution—but he warned they can look durable “until they don’t.”

He took institutional ownership: “The responsibility for 65 months of sustained, elevated inflation sits squarely with the central bank.”

His standard for action: policymakers must be confident inflation is heading to 2% clearly and fast enough. Otherwise “we have work to do.”

Bottom Line

He closed by saying he is “committed to a discipline, not to a decision.”

That is consistent with his no-forward-guidance stance, but the economic diagnosis (strong demand, easy financial conditions, sticky and still-broad inflation) tilts toward keeping the option of a hike firmly on the table.

Finally, in case you were wondering, Warsh - who prefers a quieter Fed - spoke the most amount of words in his speech since Yellen in 2017...

Perhaps he just wanted to get all the words out now and then go silent? So the average word count over his tenure is lower?

*  *  *

Nothingburger or market upheaval?

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver his first keynote address at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium this morning.

As we highlighted in our extensive preview, Warsh noted at the July FOMC meeting that his remarks could go in one of two directions: a “big-picture speech” or a “more traditional set up for all the action we’re going to have between September and December.”

How much will Kevin Warsh say in Jackson Hole today? That's the question on investors' minds.

Goldman Sachs economists expect Warsh to reiterate his commitment to the 2% inflation target, expand on the rationale behind his approach to Fed communication, and offer thoughts on some bigger picture topics such as productivity growth or shocks to the global economy that he alluded to at his last press conference (full note here).

He is likely to acknowledge the better recent inflation news but is unlikely to provide policy guidance.

Markets are looking for Warsh to clarify what combination of inflation, labor and financial conditions would cause him to recommend a change to policy, and whether the policy rate is his primary tool.

A notable lack of guidance at July’s FOMC press conference, after a more hawkish tone in June and during congressional testimonies, caught markets off guard and was ultimately a credibility-negative signal.

Goldman's Rich Privorotsky calls the setup: “awkward when you committed to not giving forward guidance.”

His modal view is “nothing done.”

But warns the market of the possibility that Warsh waivers and tries: “a left tail of a more tough on inflation message that helps bring credibility back.”

That left tail only flattens the curve, he adds, if it arrives with Treasury increasing buybacks.

Goldman's George Cole is less polite about the politics. Warsh, Cole says, seemed to endorse the July story that higher long-end yields meant the market was “finally standing on its own feet” after years of central-bank repression. Then Scott Bessent told that same market it had the price wrong. Cole’s line: “Philosophically, you can't claim to want an unpolluted read of market pricing while bullying that same market.”

So he would be “surprised if he re-runs the July script and celebrates the move higher in long-end yields.”

What traders and Fed-watchers want instead is “vol-reducing: marginally hawkish near term, but fundamentally calming.”

Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech provides a timely opportunity for the Fed’s new leader to clarify his vision for the central bank, either through a “big picture” talk focused on the task forces or through a policy-relevant discourse that cleans up some missteps in recent communications and presents scenarios for the outlook. Given his overall inclination to provide limited information about the policy outlook, his comments will most likely skew to the former, though markets will be attentive to any additional signals on the latter.

Translation: say the funds rate is the tool, say the data looks fine, sound a little more like June on 2%. Do not celebrate the selloff. Also do not rule out that Warsh “may just deliver a speech on international payments and financial innovation and say nothing on policy at all.”

Reminder, there is no Q&A after the speech.

Watch Warsh live here (due to start at 10amET):

Full Prepared Remarks...

Thank you. It's great to be here again and to see so many familiar faces. I've been looking forward to this weekend—what better place to mark my 100th day as Chairman?

For the fine hospitality, everyone here is in debt to President Jeff Schmid and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Jeff, our thanks to you all.

Jeff and the other planners have some recreation options lined up for later today. And I'd advise you to be very careful with your choices.

As I learned years ago, you can take two different kinds of hikes on the trails around Jackson Hole. I can sum up my hikes with former Vice Chairman Don Kohn in two words: I survived. These steely marathon death marches revealed a side of Don I wasn't ready for.

There's another kind of hike—one I associate with Chairman Ben Bernanke, my old colleague. With Ben, it's a much more leisurely pace, an easy stroll along the wandering trails at the Rockefeller Preserve.

So before setting out, do a wellness check and ask yourself: "Is this a Kohn day or a Bernanke day?"

The best thing about this gathering is that it helps us all clear our minds and think straight about our world and our time. For me, it feels like the right place, and the right audience, for a real engagement with the ideas that matter most.

Innovation is the conference theme, and I believe that the public and the markets—in their collective wisdom—understand that innovations in the conduct of policy at the Fed will help deliver price stability alongside full employment.

Here is a quick overview of what I'll cover in my remarks this morning. You can call it an outline . . . you can call it a trail map . . . just don't call it forward guidance.

• First, I'll touch on a few of the longer-term questions we're asking at the Fed about the latest general-purpose technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and where it might take the economy.

• Then I'll reflect a bit on the practice of forward guidance and the interaction between the central bank and financial markets.

• Next, I'll present some of the key principles that I believe should guide the conduct of monetary policy.

• And, finally, I'll give you my assessment of the economy.

Preparing for Future Policy Conjunctures

With the unchanging picture of the Tetons as our backdrop, we are here to survey an economic landscape that is anything but static.

It wasn't so long ago—in the run-up to the crisis of 2008 and over the decade that followed—when economists and policymakers were speaking of secular stagnation and a global saving glut. It was a widely held view that an excess of capital would sit on the sidelines for a long, long time, because there just wouldn't be enough compelling investment opportunities. All the good stuff had been invented. So growth would be low and slow.

Well, times sure have changed. We've come to a hinge point in history.

To cite the clearest example, progress in artificial intelligence—the 80-year-old name for the newest technology—has been faster even than its evangelists predicted a couple of years ago.

The potential for substantially higher growth is on the rise. Ever-expanding pools of capital are pouring into AI-related infrastructure of all sorts. A kind of hyper–Moore's law seems to be playing out. Scaling laws, too, are changing both the method and speed of innovation.

Capital and labor have combined to create the large language models at the heart of AI. Users buy tokens to gain access to the models. Reports put annualized token sales for the two leading labs alone at more than $100 billion—an increase of 500-plus percent from a year ago.

The Fed watches all of this attentively. We recognize that AI is a new variable—potentially a new factor of production—that will have consequences for both the economy and the conduct of monetary policy. It opens some major lines of inquiry:

Will the application of AI cause a significant, sustained rise in productivity across the economy? And if so, when?

Will token usage be complementary or competitive to labor? Will the next generation of AI models demand even greater capital intensity, or will the models themselves help devise a capital-light solution?

Among the other yet unknowns is the resulting market structure. It's not obvious where the returns on capital will land or on what timescale. Early on, how much of the surplus goes to owners of scarce assets—AI labs, chipmakers, energy producers, and cloud providers? Over time, how much of that value accrues to businesses and consumers? What are the broad implications for workers and for the employment side of the Fed's mandate?

Likewise, we don't yet know the equilibrium price of the tokens. Might there be a heterogeneity of tokens, such that growing sums will be paid for access to the best models at the frontier? Will token prices for older models fall to the level of their marginal cost?

We will be thinking through these matters with the help of a task force on productivity and jobs. My early check-ins with the leaders of that task force, and the four others, have been encouraging.

To be clear, though, their recommendations will come later and have no bearing on decisions we make in the current policy conjuncture. But I believe that for future policy challenges, this intellectual investment today will leave us far better prepared.

Forward Guidance and Its Stand-ins

As our task forces go about their work, I am not waiting to introduce innovations at the Fed to make us fit for purpose. To highlight one example, I have set out to change the form and function of the Fed Chairman's so-called forward guidance. You might know about my long-time discomfort with early pronouncements of future policy decisions. I much prefer another path . . . and will make the case for it.

Transparency in communications about future policy decisions is not a virtue unto itself. Communications must be in service to the Fed's paramount responsibility: getting monetary policy right.

Forward guidance as a regular practice was adopted by my colleagues and me during the Global Financial Crisis.6 It was essential at the time, and we introduced it with much fanfare. But, as with other legacies of crises past, I believe that the practice has overstayed its welcome.

In normal times, the role of forward guidance should be limited and circumscribed. Otherwise it risks creating ambiguity in the name of clarity. Oversharing policy deliberations and overcommitting to future decisions can lead markets, businesses, and households astray.7 And I believe when policymakers make quasi-commitments on interest rates through the cycle, we inhibit our own freedom to make the right calls when it's time to decide.

To get policy right, we also need to get the relationship right between financial markets and the central bank. The Fed needs clear market signals, as unfiltered as possible . . . from market internals . . . the level and change in asset prices across sectors . . . the prices and trading volumes of Treasury securities. . . the foreign exchange value of the dollar . . . the cost and availability of credit . . . and the price of a broad set of commodities.

These and other indicators should inform the Fed's near-term outlook on economic activity and inflation throughout the business cycle. They should also reveal the state of broader financial conditions . . . and the risks and uncertainties in the financial cycle.

At the same time, market participants themselves should be tracking real information across the economy. They should draw their own conclusions; form their own expectations of output, employment, and inflation; and stay sharply attuned to risks.

The Fed should be humble and never naïve. The Fed plays an essential role in the economy and the markets. And our tools are powerful. We determine the path of short-term interest rates. And market participants will always try to anticipate what we will do next. But we should not indulge a regime in which market participants are looking primarily to the Fed for their next trade.

The economic literature has long described the distorting effects: a hall-of-mirrors problem.8 If markets rely materially on the Fed's guidance and the Fed relies on market prices, we are all more likely to be blinded to new developments . . . more likely to be caught unprepared for a turn of events . . . and more likely to commit errors in policymaking.9

Perversely, market participants are unlikely to bear the biggest costs of the hall-of-mirrors problem. The most serious harm is likely to befall those without financial assets. If the Fed gets inflation wrong and judges the economy wrong, who gets the worst of it? Not the financial high-fliers. Hard-working Americans are the ones left to deal with inflation that is too high or jobs that suddenly appear less secure.

So, if forward guidance is ill-suited to normal times, then how about the new Fed chief commits—at the very least—to an explicit reaction function? Surely, he should tell us his interest rate path—if, say, the data were to come in hot or cold.

I wish our understanding of the economy were so precise as to provide a mechanical, tried-and-true answer—that some simple function like a Taylor rule could be rigorously relied upon. But our knowledge just doesn't extend that far—at least not yet—and the factors most relevant to the proper conduct of monetary policy change over time.

Providing forecasts to illustrate the Fed's reaction function works better in theory than in practice, better in the lab than in the field. I'm not alone in noticing that forward guidance in 2021, to cite one example, might well have slowed the policy response to high inflation.10

In my term as Chairman, my colleagues and I will endeavor to construct more reliable models and more robust rules to guide policy decisions. We'll do this knowing that accuracy in economic forecasting is still just an aspiration. With so much changing so fast in geopolitics, global supply chains, and technology, it's wise to be modest about what we can and cannot know.

In the same spirit, we should receive the full range of ideas on matters that may inform the Fed's monetary policy decisions. If the aim is optimal decisionmaking, we should not crowd out views on the economy.

How, then, to chart a better path to policy? In the balance of my remarks, I will share some key principles that guide my thinking on the appropriate conduct of monetary policy . . . then offer my promised assessment of the economy.

Key Principles

Turning to principles . . .

First, I've noticed that, in this line of work, yesterday's news has a way of getting mistaken for what is happening right now. The challenge is to know the difference. In other words, we must interrogate reality to make sure we are not setting forward-looking policy based on stale or inaccurate data. Nor should we rely on isolated data points. Trends matter most. The Fed is a decisionmaking agency. We make choices amid uncertainty, and the data upon which we draw must be as relevant, contemporaneous, accurate, and actionable as possible.11

Second, the Federal Reserve's actions are intended to ensure that the aggregate demand side of the economy is broadly consistent with aggregate supply. However, all we observe directly is activity. We never see, and can only infer, what's really happening on the supply side. Hence, evaluating the current and expected balance between aggregate supply and demand is imprecise.12

Third, there should be no misunderstanding: The Fed's price-stability objective of 2 percent, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, is a firm, fixed target. Let's be equally clear about another aspect of the objective: Price stability is not self-executing, nor is inflation necessarily mean-reverting. It is the Fed's job to deliver stable prices.

Fourth, the Fed also bears responsibility for maximum employment. Achieving both sides of our mandate over the medium term is not an either/or proposition. I do not believe that the Fed's dual mandate works at cross-purposes. After all, high inflation itself is very harmful to economic prosperity.

Fifth, short-term interest rates are the predominant tool to achieve the dual mandate. Unconventional policies to spur economic activity may suit genuine crises but should otherwise be used sparingly, if at all.

Sixth, money matters. It's not fashionable these days, but my view is that money has something important to do with monetary policy.13 We should pay attention to money created by the central bank and money that comes from the banking and financial systems.14 It's true that financial innovations and other factors alter the mechanics that link the monetary base, the velocity of money, and the broader economy. But that is scarcely a reason to ignore the ultimate effects of money on financial conditions and prices.

Finally, a quieter Fed, more purposeful in its communications, is better able to meet its objectives. And we can be held accountable for delivering on our remit—the only true test of our credibility. To borrow a line from General Chuck Yeager, "At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results."15

The Economy Today

Now, given these principles, how do I read the economy today? What's really going on outside the window?16

You may have read in the July minutes the unanimous view of the FOMC:17 Labor markets were stable, and output was solid. But inflation remained too high. A good majority of my colleagues and I thought the wiser course was to await new information in the intermeeting period—especially given possible developments in supply chains, investment flows, and geopolitics—before deciding whether a change in interest rate policy was advisable. And we expressed our joint readiness to act as circumstances might require.

For my part, today I am impressed by the overall performance of the economy, which appears to have strengthened. One indicator of strength is how well an economy holds up to shocks. On that score, both Main Street and Wall Street have been remarkably resilient.

Several observations:

Business capital expenditures—the seed corn of future economic growth—are rising rapidly. The four-quarter change in investment in equipment and intangibles has been around 9 percent, its highest growth rate since 2021. More than half of the cap-ex growth this year can likely be ascribed to the buildout related to AI.

For firms in the S&P 500, profits have grown by more than 20 percent over the past year. Profit margins are quite elevated, relative to history. Overall equity market volatility is low. We're staying keenly focused on market internals, watching performance across sectors.

Expectations for growth in both cap-ex and corporate earnings are running quite high. I will continue to watch the change in their growth rates, the second derivative. The follow-on effects on asset prices, business confidence, consumer income, and spending are equally important to gauge.

Credit spreads on corporate bonds and leveraged loans are near the low ends of their historical ranges, and issuance volumes in these markets have been quite strong this year. Looking beyond fixed-income markets to the banking business, in the July Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, banks tell us that standards for commercial and industrial loans are on the easier end of their historical range. That helps explain the growth we've seen this year in those loans. Credit and loan markets are showing few signs of policy restraint.

Certain sectors—like housing and agriculture—are showing strains. But, on balance, I would be hard pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive.

Real consumer spending has been healthy despite the shocks, increasing more than 2 percent over the past four quarters. Combining consumption with the brisk investment we've observed, private domestic final purchases (PDFP) has also risen. PDFP has increased at a pace of nearly 3 percent so far this calendar year. That's a measure that typically carries more signal than gross domestic product, and the trend here too is positive.

On the employment side of the Fed's dual mandate, our country is doing well. Labor markets are quite stable. The jobless rate, at 4.1 percent, remains low by historical standards and has not changed much for a couple of years. Unemployment claims, on a four-week average—an empirically robust real-time indicator—are near their lowest level in decades.

In my view, the relatively low turnover in today's labor market is partly a result of the significant rematching between employers and employees that happened at scale in the post-pandemic environment.

When labor supply is barely growing, monthly job gains are naturally going to run low. There are always areas of concern in the labor market—for example, among recent graduates. In general, though, people who want to work, by and large, are holding or finding jobs. They may well be concerned about possible future labor disruptions, but as of now, I believe the labor markets are consistent with full employment.

But on the price-stability side of our mandate, the numbers are more concerning. The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the 12-month change in the PCE price index, stands at 3.7 percent, while the six-month change is 4.1 percent. The comparable measures from the consumer price index (CPI) are also elevated, as are the core measures of both PCE and CPI inflation. None of these measures are perfect, but they all tell a similar story: Inflation is running above our 2 percent target. So the Fed's predominant focus right now should be on prices.

The job for policymakers is to capture underlying trend inflation—that is, the generalized change in prices in the economy, unaffected by idiosyncratic factors. We want to gauge whether underlying inflation is rising, falling, or stuck in place. We also want to understand not just the direction of travel, but also the speed. Each of these broad inflation measures has fallen significantly from their 2022 heights. But progress over the past two years has been modest.

And while this summer's PCE and CPI readings were better than expected, they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.

The data also show moderate wage growth. But in tracking underlying inflation, wage growth has not proven a reliable indicator of future inflation for a very long time.18

To try to gauge underlying inflation, I find it instructive to disaggregate the 199 individual components of the PCE price measure. Over the past 12 months, 54 percent of goods and services in the PCE basket showed price increases above 3 percent. This is well below the post-pandemic highs of about 77 percent, but it remains well above the level of 32 percent in the two decades that preceded the pandemic.

Looking over just the past six months, the conclusion is similar: Of goods and services in the PCE basket, 49 percent showed annualized price increases above 3 percent. Again, this is well below the post-pandemic highs but still quite elevated.

The recent rise in overall commodity prices also bears watching. What we need to judge is whether trends indicate upside inflation risks.

It matters, too, whether the inflation readings of the past five-plus years have seeped into expectations. The good news is that measures of inflation expectations in the medium term, by and large, look stable. And inflation compensation measures from the swaps market send a strong and similar message.

Especially in light of recent developments, it is a credit to the Fed as an institution—and consistent with the best of the Fed's traditions—that market prices show confidence that we will deliver price stability. And I can assure you . . . they're right.

The thing about market measures of inflation expectations in economic history is that they tend to look strong and durable until they don't. Those expectations are not pushed around easily, and right now they are well anchored. But they must be closely minded. It's the Fed's job to make sure that inflation expectations do not get unanchored.

There is one signal nobody can miss: The responsibility for 65 months of sustained, elevated inflation sits squarely with the central bank. And that is where it belongs.

Here is my standard: We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do. That's our job . . . our mandate . . . and our charge to keep.

Conclusion

I stand here today committed to a discipline, not to a decision.

My Fed colleagues and I are hardly the first to hold these positions in a time of great consequence. We are determined to redeem the time by doing our very best work.

We take our responsibility seriously, with humility and with resolve. So much depends on choices we make. Sound monetary policy helps households and businesses to prosper. When carried out effectively, it broadens and deepens the momentum of our economy . . . and helps to secure America's leadership in the world. And I know that our country needs us to think carefully and act wisely.

It is a tremendous honor to serve once again at the Federal Reserve. I am truly grateful for the encouragement and good counsel I've received from my colleagues . . . and from so many of you in this room. For that, and for your kind attention this morning, I thank you.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 15:00

Wall Street Warns "Pervert Glasses" Backlash Threatens AI-Wearables Boom

Bernstein analysts are out with a note on how Meta Platforms and EssilorLuxottica's once-hot smart glasses business is running out of steam because of an emerging public backlash over privacy and surveillance, raising questions about whether the smart glasses industry as a whole is hitting a brick wall.

Luca Solca, Bernstein's senior equity analyst and global luxury-goods sector head, covers companies including EssilorLuxottica, LVMH, Hermès and Richemont. He said Ray-Ban Meta glasses were initially a "commercial success," but public opinion has since shifted against the glasses has drastically shifted, with folks online labeling them "pervert glasses" amid mounting privacy concerns.

EssilorLuxottica sold more than 7 million Meta AI glasses in 2025, compared with 2 million during 2023 and 2024 combined, Solca said. However, he warned that users are abandoning the glasses under social pressure. 

Unlike smartphones, the cameras are embedded inside ordinary-looking frames, and the blinking warning light can be covered with tape despite Meta's efforts to prevent tampering. That has not stopped influencers and bad actors from using the glasses in ways that have angered the public.

"The court of public opinion has dubbed the Ray-Ban Metas' pervert glasses,'" the analyst said, adding, "Public figures such as Jimmy Kimmel and singer Lorde have publicly spoken up against them over the past months, with distressing guerrilla ads by US and British advocacy groups being plastered over NYC and London to raise awareness and encourage boycotts."

Solca continued:

Paradoxically, the characteristic that made Meta's Ray-Bans so popular in the first place may be their downfall. 

The camera and technology blend seamlessly with the original design, making the Ray-Ban Metas a rather fashionable gadget.

However, this means that most people are unaware they are being filmed and unable to consent. 

Users can record hands-free, making it less obvious than when using a smartphone to do so. The blinking light that should alert them to this fact can be easily covered, despite Meta's product updates to prevent this. 

There are countless videos online instructing users precisely how to bypass this feature. German nonprofit group HateAid calls for ensuring 'safety by design,' pointing to the fact that Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are 'indistinguishable' from ordinary glasses. They are requesting that authorities make sure the glasses are 'clearly identifiable.'

Solca then makes the case that the mounting social backlash makes it more positive on EssilorLuxottica. Slower smart-glasses adoption reduces the risk that technology companies will cannibalize the traditional eyewear market, dilute industry margins and turn glasses into another low-margin consumer-electronics category

Solca explained: 

All of the above makes us, ironically, more positive on EssilorLuxottica. 

We wrote before about the impact of smart glasses on the group's LT economics (EssilorLuxottica: Gauging Optionality) and estimated the right valuation in the current context at ~24x PE (EssilorLuxottica: The "right" valuation).

The public outcry against smart glasses makes the bearish scenario of a cannibalistic, disruptive and margin dilutive impact on the category less likely. 

However, given the optics of the problem, we wonder how much reputational damage has been done to the Ray-Ban brand. Will the Wayfarers be remembered as the 'pervert glasses' in the same way the Aviators are associated with Tom Cruise in Top Gun?

Solca maintained a Market-Perform rating and a 200 euro 12-month price target. Shares are currently trading around 156 euros and have more than halved since peaking around 319 euros in late 2025.

Our reporting over the past year has documented the mounting public backlash against smart glasses (see here), including the emergence of an app designed to alert users when the devices are nearby. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 14:45

Another Two Historic Churches Explode Into Flames...

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Two more historic churches are gone. Burned to the ground like hundreds more before them.

In downtown Grand Rapids, fire tore through a 133-year-old building owned by LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church late Wednesday night. While in Pennington, Alabama, the Ebenezer Baptist Church - a congregation founded in 1850 - was reduced to a total loss in a late-night blaze days earlier.

The official language surrounding the causes is already familiar: under investigation, unknown. The buildings are not coming back.

? UPDATE ANOTHER HISTORIC CHURCH JUST BURNED DOWN.

LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan is a whopping 133 YEARS OLD and the cause of the devastating fire is "unknown"

This keeps happening ?

MULTIPLE historic churches have now burned in recent... pic.twitter.com/R3hFfW9VC8

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 27, 2026

?? The historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pennington, Alabama, has been completely destroyed in a late-night fire.

The congregation was established in 1850 and had served the community in Choctaw County for more than 175 years. pic.twitter.com/6gG9zamIKH

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 27, 2026

The Grand Rapids fire started around 10:55 p.m. Wednesday night, in the former Seventh-day Adventist building near Oakes Street and Sheldon Avenue - a masonry structure the city archives date to about 1894, originally All Souls Universalist Church.

Grand Rapids Professional Firefighters Local 366 said Rescue Company 2 arrived to "a large church with heavy smoke and fire showing from the basement windows." Crews pushed an interior attack with hoselines in the basement and on the main floor. The fire was already in the walls and void spaces.

Nineteen crews worked the scene. Off-duty firefighters were called in. The floor collapsed. Part of the roof came down. Two firefighters were struck by falling brick and are expected to recover; local reports later put the injury tally at three. Battalion Chief Kathleen Thompson said crews had to pull out and fight the fire from the outside. The secondary building is expected to be a total loss. The main LaGrave sanctuary next door was spared.

Rev. Peter Jonker, a minister on staff, told WOOD-TV: "I'm really sad. Both because it's a beautiful building and part of our city, but also for us, we had some really significant ministry plans."

Investigators are still looking at the cause. No ruling of arson has been announced. The phrase on the record is the same one now attached to so many of these scenes: unknown.

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pennington, Choctaw County, caught fire around 10 p.m. on Tuesday of last week. Jerry Snowden, chairman of the deacons, said: "It's a total loss." The congregation had served the community for more than 175 years. Firefighters were still killing hot spots the next morning so the fire marshal could walk the ruins. Church members posted memories of baptisms, funerals and the brick walls their families had helped raise.

Two more churches in America are now rubble. And it keeps happening.

Last week in Cleveland, the former Friendship Baptist Church - a mid-1890s structure that began as a synagogue before becoming a Baptist sanctuary - was destroyed in an early-morning fire. Nearly sixty firefighters responded. The roof collapsed. The remnants were demolished.

Officials first called the cause unknown. Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman later confirmed it was incendiary. "The motives are not believed to be financial. This was not a fire set for insurance money or to acquire the land." He called the loss "irreplaceable" and put the damage at about $500,000.

Buffalo's former St. Ann's Church and Shrine, built in 1886, was hit twice in four days in July after earlier damage this year. Investigators ruled the July fires arson. The Diocese of Buffalo sold the church, school and convent in November 2022 for $250,000 to Buffalo Crescent Holdings, Inc., a company affiliated with the Downtown Islamic Center, which planned an Islamic community centre for Buffalo's Bengali community. The site had been vacant since parish life ended in 2013.

Buffalo Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope said she had just told city officials the building would probably be set on fire again. "I know it's been said that it was arson, which is to be expected."

She also said: "I literally just had a conversation this afternoon with a member of the administration asking what are we going to do about it and stressing that something has to be done over there to secure it, and then said it's probably going to be set on fire again, but I just didn't think it would happen today."

Preservation Buffalo Niagara director Bernice Radle said: "The St. Ann's property owners are unresponsive and refuse to secure the building. Preservation Buffalo Niagara calls on the City of Buffalo to pull out all the stops to wrestle this landmark church from its negligent absentee owner. Enough is enough!"

New York City has taken its own losses. On June 19 the 173-year-old South Bushwick Reformed Church in Brooklyn, a Greek Revival landmark, was gutted in a three-alarm fire that brought the steeple down. The FDNY later confirmed it was intentionally set.

Pastor James E. Steward II said: "It was more than just a building. It's lives and generations of lives that have been touched." After the ruling he added: "Now we understand it is intentional, which brings another layer of grief to myself, as well as the congregation and the community."

He also said, "Whoever is responsible for this ultimately has to answer to God," and "We have no known enemies." The city rejected a restoration plan based on an independent engineer's assessment and ordered demolition.

Weeks earlier, the vacant First Reformed Church of Astoria in Queens - organized in 1839, rebuilt after an 1888 fire - suffered a major fire that began in a vacant rectory and raced into the church.

This is happening everywhere. The United Kingdom has been subject to this same script for months.

On the night of February 22, Kings Hall Methodist Church in Southall, West London - a building more than a century old - was gutted. More than ten fire engines and around seventy firefighters fought it for hours. The roof and upper floors were destroyed. The cause was left under investigation. Downing Street had nothing of substance to say.

Days later a man walked into Manchester Central Mosque during Ramadan carrying a knife, an axe and a hammer. Worshippers stopped him. No one was harmed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer produced a statement immediately: "I am concerned to hear of the incident at Manchester Central Mosque last night. I know this will be worrying for Muslim communities, especially during Ramadan, a time of peace and reflection."

He added: "We have provided up to £40m funding for additional security at mosques, Muslim schools and community centres, and will continue to act to ensure communities are able to live without fear."

There was no comparable package for the thousands of poorly secured parish churches across England. National Churches Trust figures have recorded thousands of crimes at church properties in recent years, including hundreds of attacks and a large share of arsons. Security funding per Christian site has sat in a different universe from the sums directed at mosques and synagogues.

Leicester added another chapter at the end of July. St Andrew's Church on Jarrom Street, a Grade II* landmark built in 1862 to a design by Sir George Gilbert Scott, caught fire after 11 p.m. on July 28. Firefighters fought it through the night. The roof was wrecked. Officials later said the most probable cause was accidental, with the building secure and no sign of forced entry. Repairs will take years. Lord Mayor Kulwinder Singh Johal said he was "heartbroken" by the "devastating fire."

Stoke-on-Trent's former St Bernadette's Church on Fegg Hayes Road was separately ruled a deliberate fire. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue were called at about 8:40 p.m. on July 23. Six appliances and an aerial ladder platform attended. A service spokesperson said: "Following an investigation, the cause of the fire has been deemed to be deliberate."

Cumbernauld's St Mungo's, a B-listed 1960s landmark, was destroyed in a deliberate blaze last year. No one has been charged. The investigation remains open.

Britain's historic churches are disappearing in a drizzle of "unknown," "accidental" and "deliberate - no suspect."

The same week Grand Rapids burned, Canada added another total loss.

Early Monday on the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick, Saint-Simon Church - believed to be the largest wooden church left in the province, a 1910s landmark by Acadian architect Nazaire Dugas - burned to the ground. By daylight only a sliver of the base and a brick chimney remained. The New Brunswick Office of the Fire Marshal ruled it intentional.

After 2021, arsons against churches more than doubled. A Macdonald-Laurier Institute review found fewer than 4 percent of cases produced charges. From May 2021 to December 2023, at least 33 Canadian churches burned to the ground; 24 were confirmed arsons, two accidental, the rest unspecified. Over 96 percent unsolved.

In April the 1893 church in Saint-Romain, Quebec, was destroyed and treated as arson.

A country can lose three dozen churches and still call it a mystery if it never bothers to catch anyone.

France has recorded nearly fifty fires or arson attempts on churches and Christian sites in a single recent year, a sharp rise on the year before.

In late April the 19th-century Église Saint-Cyriaque in Montenach, Moselle - built between 1884 and 1886, survivor of two world wars - lost its timber roof and part of its bell tower. Officials blamed a nearby brush fire driven by strong winds. Mayor Jean-Paul Tinnes said: "The roof is gone, the bell tower is gone. It makes me cry. I've been mayor for over thirty years. My children were baptized here, I got married here... It's a historic building that everyone cherishes."

On June 12 the 17th-century Chapelle Sainte-Anne-des-Rochers in Trégastel lost most of its slate roof. Hours later a fire in Condom devastated a historic cloister attached to the cathedral, damaging more than 4,300 archived volumes. Studies have noted a Christian religious building disappearing in France every two weeks through fire, collapse or deliberate damage.

Historic Christianity is being subtracted from the streetscape of the West one fire at a time. The buildings that baptized towns, married generations and buried the dead are being deliberately purged.

The people who notice the pattern are told they are imagining it. The people who set some of these fires are almost never named.

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 Fri, 08/28/2026 - 14:25

Truths And Omissions As US Hits $40 Trillion In Debt

Authored by Veronique de Rugy via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. national debt just crossed the $40 trillion threshold, doubling in less than a decade. Washington politicians have responded with their favorite fiscal game: blaming the other party. Democrats say Republican tax cuts are the culprit. Republicans say Democratic spending is the root cause. But both parties are responsible, with both hiding behind a lie of omission. And if we let them, they'll keep driving us into the same wall together.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recently called Republican tax cuts "the single biggest driver" of the debt across the last 25 years. The number uses an unrealistic 2001 baseline that projected endless surpluses, as if the late-1990s revenue windfall would last forever. The Brookings Institution's Jessica Riedl makes a more honest comparison by lining up the actual budget in 2000 against 2026. Tax cuts have reduced revenue by roughly 2 percent of gross domestic product. Spending rose by 5.7 percent, nearly three times as much.

Tax cuts can be great, especially when structured to move us toward a better overall tax code. But they are not free and often do not pay for themselves, largely because they come with lots of nonproductive handouts to special interests.

Yet the fact of the matter is that despite every tax cut since 2001, revenue today sits near its long-run average as a share of the GDP. With spending climbing nearly six points, we know exactly where the problem lies.

The Congressional Budget Office projects federal spending to rise further, from 23.3 percent of GDP this year to 24.4 percent in 2036. For those paying attention, the drivers won't come as a surprise: entitlement programs and interest payments. Discretionary spending, defense included, is poised to shrink relative to GDP. Revenue holds near its average.

But while Republicans blame Democrats for expanding spending, they have joyfully participated. As David Stockman documented in his 1986 book, "The Triumph of Politics," the Reagan Revolution failed to truly reform welfare and entitlement spending because Republicans were active in their expansion in the decades before.

More recently, Republicans who spent years complaining about Obamacare have failed to abolish it, let alone reform its finances. Today, you don't hear a peep out of Republicans about reforming Social Security and Medicare, though they have made some cosmetic adjustments to Medicaid and SNAP as they were cutting taxes.

This is not new. About 26 years ago, Social Security's trustees were already projecting the trust funds to run dry in 2037, after which payroll taxes would cover only 72 percent of benefits. Today, the trustees expect the old-age fund to be depleted by around 2032, covering about 77 percent of benefits thereafter. And we have always known why: longer lives, lower birth rates, fewer workers per retiree. Maintaining these benefits without crushing taxes was always going to mean a lot of debt.

Medicare's Hospital Insurance fund is estimated to run dry around the same time. But as the Hoover Institution's Tom Church notes, Medicare's real fiscal problem is that we now rely on general revenue to cover more than half of its outlays. This amounts to roughly $10 trillion over 2026-2035, mostly from Part B (a medical insurance program for outpatient and doctors' visits). That's huge, but it's not news, either.

All of this has frustrated me for years. Those of us warning about debt have been dismissed as primitives. When interest rates were low, debt was cheap. We were assured that if growth beat the borrowing rate, we could roll it over almost for free. The reality is that even low rates on explosive debt aren't cheap, and there was little chance that rates would stay low forever.

Here's what the low-rate crowd never understood, and what this decade's inflation should have taught everyone: Government debt is a promise to run future surpluses. The market expects no less, and thus, the debt's real value depends on whether investors believe that promise.

When Washington dropped roughly $5 trillion in pandemic dollars into the economy with no plan to pay for any of it, investors reappraised this promise and the price level adjusted. The inflation of 2021 and 2022 was not an unlucky storm. It was the market's response to a government taking on debt it didn't have fiscal backing for. Higher interest rates followed, and we are still living with them.

That's the risk Washington is not pricing into its complacency. The danger of an unreformed entitlement state is about more than interest payments crowding out the rest of the budget. It's that bondholders will stop believing future surpluses will materialize, and the adjustment comes through the price level again. Unfunded Social Security and Medicare promises are, in effect, a standing commitment to more debt and future inflation.

So, the question is whether the politicians who claim to be alarmed by the crossing of this threshold will stand up and turn the tide of red ink heading our way.

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

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 13:45

GTA 6 Leak, Netflix Preview Ignite Frenzy As BMO Declares "Gaming's Super Bowl Moment" Nears

Ahead of Rockstar Games' first official extended preview of Grand Theft Auto 6 on Netflix on Thursday, which overwhelmed the streaming platform and generated largely positive reactions from players around the world, a person or group operating under the name "Cyberleek" dumped a series of GTA 6 leaks onto social media - which a nontrivial number of people think is a marketing ploy.

Cyberleek published a steady stream of GTA 6 footage over the past week, providing players with an unofficial preview shortly before Rockstar's planned gameplay presentation on Thursday.

Cyberleek lost by forcing Rockstar's hands to release the extended look proving that he has the recent build of the game which looked dogshit https://t.co/Wq2S4AqsLc

— Momoi Saiba Official (@Peach_Fightr) August 28, 2026

The leaks threatened to overshadow the official debut of a video game that players have been awaiting for nearly 13 years. Or did they?

🚨 NOTICIA DE ULTIMO MINUTO 🚨 Cyberleek, el hacker que filtró los gameplays de GTA VI podria ser una campaña de marketing de Rockstar Games.

Vamos con las pruebas 👇

He hecho una investigación exhaustiva 🧵 (con datos REALES, esto no me lo invento)

1/ Repasemos el timeline:… pic.twitter.com/fY19hUNH56

— DannyTheUber (@DannyTheUber) August 25, 2026

CNBC described Rockstar's decision to preview GTA 6 on Netflix as a "rare move." The overwhelming traffic that briefly disrupted the platform indicated high usage levels and provided a positive demand signal for the game.

"Some members briefly experienced an issue accessing Netflix, but we quickly recovered," Netflix told CNBC.

Watch Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look.

Now available on YouTube and the Grand Theft Auto VI official site:https://t.co/ePUmxB65kZhttps://t.co/9koqQnih7a pic.twitter.com/a5rAnaHufK

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) August 28, 2026

Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of analysis firm The Game Business, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" earlier today that he had "never seen Netflix do anything where they put a game on display, and it just shows the power of this particular title. It's in a league of its own."

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan reiterated their bullish views on Take-Two (Rockstar Games' owner), citing rising interest from institutional and retail investors ahead of what BMO Capital analysts described as "gaming's Super Bowl moment."

Wells Fargo was more cautious. The bank said the trailer only modestly increased its unit-sales expectations and warned that Take-Two may need positive news about the next version of GTA Online to secure a sustained valuation rerating. A launch delay or weaker-than-expected sales remain the primary downside risks.

BMO Capital analysts summed up the developments around GTA 6, from leaks to the Netflix preview:

GTA VI An Extended Look: Gaming's Super Bowl Moment Is Just Around the Corner

Bottom Line:

TTWO released a 27-minute An Extended Look today at 3 p.m. ET exclusively on NFLX, with a broader rollout on YouTube and other platforms at 9 p.m. ET. The special preview was partially spoiled by widespread gameplay leaks, which we do not expect to adversely impact unit sales. An Extended Look confirmed the high-quality gameplay and transformative cinematic experience that we believe will propel GTA VI to become the biggest video game of all time.

Reiterate Outperform, Top-Pick, and $285 Target Price. We maintain Street-high FY27E Bookings of $10.6B.

Key Points

Leakers Spoiled the Surprise, as An Extended Look Confirmed High-Quality Gameplay

We do not expect recent GTA VI gameplay leaks to adversely impact GTA VI unit sales. Today's GTA VI: An Extended Look underscored high-quality gameplay that exceeded our elevated expectations, delivering a true cinematic experience that should deeply engage audiences. We believe the 27 minutes of gameplay barely scratches the surface of the content available at launch. Notably, we see a deepening relationship between NFLX and TTWO, as well as attractive/synergistic opportunities in transmedia.

Management Has Talked Down Ads, But We See a Real Opportunity Over Time

While management has historically shunned embedding advertisements in paid game experiences, we couldn't help but notice seamless opportunities for brands to be organically embedded in ways that enhance gameplay. We view advertising as a real high-margin call option for TTWO in the longer term.

Our Street-High Estimates Remain Unchanged

Our $10.6B FY27E Bookings estimate is 26% above consensus and 29% above the high-end of guidance, primarily driven by our GTA VI analysis. We model FY27E GTA VI full game unit sales of 55M x $59 ASP = $3.25B in FY27E full game GTA VI Bookings vs. consensus 39M units x $58.25 = $2.27B. Our model assumes GTA Online will contribute ~$0.75B in F2H27E Bookings.

Is TTWO Becoming a Sell-the-News Story?

Investors are increasingly viewing TTWO as a sell-the-news investment thesis, suggesting shares may struggle to meaningfully outperform post-game launch on November 19. We highlight that during the GTA V launch, TTWO shares did not meaningfully outperform until ~6 months post-launch. However, we believe investors with duration should accumulate shares, particularly using any potential sell-the-news events as opportunities to own a best-in-class multi-year growth story.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 13:25

Free Speech Advocates Rally At California Capitol Against 'Stop Nick Shirley Act'

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

Tensions flared at the California state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 26 as free speech advocates rallied to overturn a new state law they dubbed the "Stop Nick Shirley Act" signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week.

Utah independent journalist Nick Shirley joined Republican state lawmakers and hundreds of supporters speaking out against what they said was a violation of their rights.

🚨 California desperately wants change and transparency when it comes their tax dollars being defrauded and wasted by corrupt politicians.

No more lack of accountability or billions of tax dollars lost and stolen. No more money-laundering schemes through NGOs, nonprofits, and… pic.twitter.com/ws3e6GvTa7

— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) August 27, 2026

The legislation signed by Newsom on Aug. 22 expands an existing program created to protect domestic violence victims to include immigrant service workers, making it illegal to post, display, disclose, or distribute the personal information or image of any designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer, or other individuals residing at the same home address, with the intent to harass, dox, or threaten them.

Anyone who violates the law faces a minimum fine of $4,000 and a maximum of three times the damages amount awarded by a jury. The law goes into effect Oct 1, 2027.

Newsom's office denied claims the legislation targeted Shirley and his investigations.

Shirley published his first California-related video on March 16 after his team uncovered over $170 million in alleged fraud tied to a daycare and hospice care system in the state.

Shirley, who joined the rally, said there was no need for the bill.

"Here in California, the politicians instead of going after the fraudsters, they've now gone after those that are going to expose the fraud," Shirley told the crowd.

Some state lawmakers have also come out against the new law, officially titled "Assembly Bill 2624 Privacy for immigration support services providers."

"In America, we have a right to free speech and the freedom of the press," Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland, whose district is mostly made up of Orange County cities, told the crowd.

"And every citizen has a right to challenge how their money is being spent in the state of California."

Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio of San Diego County said the law will end up in court.

"I'm asking the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to intervene to block implementation of the Stop Nick Shirley Act," DeMaio said in a video on X. "The DOJ can take cases up that infringe on constitutional rights. They can haul California into court and defend our First Amendment rights. One way or another, we're taking this to court."

Newsom's spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayo told The Epoch Times in an email: "The real controversy here is that MAGA Republicans are either lying to create up fake conspiracy theories, or none of them know how to read."

The governor's office and supporters of the legislation claim the bill only allows immigration service providers the ability to hide their personal information from the public to protect themselves from getting exposed or harassed.

Democratic Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, whose district is in the Bay Area, introduced the bill on Feb. 20, one month after Shirley first publicly announced he was targeting fraud in California during a Jan. 21 congressional hearing on Minnesota fraud.

Bonta said she had no idea who Shirley was before she submitted the legislation, telling KRCA in April she didn't "live in the same spaces in social media" where Shirley's people were.

Bonta's husband, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, had already filed lawsuits with Minnesota's attorney general against the Trump administration after millions in fraud were uncovered in Minnesota following Shirley's investigations in December.

Attorney General Bonta has also led an unprecedented legal fight against the Trump administration during President Donald Trump's second term, filing 82 major lawsuits and more than 120 briefs supporting other legal actions.

"Since President Trump returned to office, California has been under attack - and has led the way in fighting back," the attorney general said Aug. 4.

In his remarks Wednesday, Shirley told the crowd that the new law created a protected class of people within state government and gives them special privileges by excluding them from having to disclose their information to the public.

Here is the New York Times realizing they are advocating for a law that would would effect journalism and fraud from being exposed pic.twitter.com/AQ88oUZziu

— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) August 27, 2026

Politicians have learned they can use immigrant communities and nonprofits to funnel millions upon millions of tax dollars into nonprofit organizations, Shirley said.

"Now, they want to prohibit people from being able to go and film these locations to expose it," he said.

The Pacific Justice Institute spoke at the rally and said they planned to help challenge the law in court.

"The purpose of this legislation - the goal of it is very clear - is to intimidate you not to investigate. Not to report. To go home in fear," said Brad Dacus, president of the institute.

The institute pledged to defend anyone in court fined by the state under the new law.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 13:05

ICE Awards $16.7 Million No-Bid Contract For 6,000 Pairs Of Electric Shock Gloves

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver electric shocks. Officers would use them to control resisting detainees and protesters, according to a federal notice published Thursday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

The no-bid deal went to Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky firm that manufactures the devices, and covers the gloves plus support equipment and services over the next six months.

ICE moved forward with the purchase despite ongoing objections from civil rights advocates and Democratic senators. They said the agency already draws criticism for use of force with unclear oversight.

Hours before the notice appeared, a group of senators led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) wrote to ICE's acting director, urging the agency to abandon the plan. Fifteen colleagues from the Democratic caucus signed on.

"The blatant and tragic misuse of force in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Maine, and other locations around the country raises significant skepticism about the agency's professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause," the letter said.

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, defended the purchase Thursday.

"Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from any safety equipment is despicable and a deliberate attempt to undermine and endanger our officers," the agency said in a statement.

The plan for the purchase surfaced earlier this month when ICE posted a notice about buying thousands of "conductive distraction and de-escalation devices" for officers and investigators.

Gloves Look Like Regular Gear Until Button Is Pressed

The gloves appear as ordinary patrol gloves until an officer presses a button, which activates electrical mode. The shock works only on bare skin, and aims to produce enough pain to make a resisting person comply. Some local jails and police departments already use similar equipment.

ICE's notice listed several scenarios for the devices, including high-tension environments during arrests, transport of combative detainees, and civil disturbances outside detention facilities.

"It will be used when a subject is actively or passively resisting and an officer needs to gain control quickly to prevent injuries to both parties," the document said.

Officials said the shocks would help maintain control over inmates, stop aggression or escape attempts, let officers handcuff people who hide their hands, and aid crowd control efforts. The aim is to avoid the deployment of greater force, including firearms. The notice mentioned approved policy, training, and accountability standards but no further details.

ICE initially intended to spend up to $20 million on the devices, known as CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E., or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, with delivery expected by March 31, 2027. The gloves were earmarked for Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and agents.

Compliant Technologies said the gloves should not be deployed in the face of verbal defiance or belligerence, serve as punishment, or be used for torture. The company also warned against deploying them on children, the elderly, pregnant women, or people with disabilities.

The manual advised using them when a suspect becomes violent enough to endanger an officer or the public, and only to meet lawful objectives under agency policy. Officers need training and certification, with recertification every two years.

"Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensure that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards," an ICE spokesperson told The Epoch Times earlier this month via email. "Our officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training."

* * * hot take from Tim Dillon

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 12:25

Trump Stuns By Outright Dismissing Notion Putin Preparing To Attack A NATO State

President Trump has added fuel to the fire of controversy and speculation over the question of why CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a surprise and highly rare trip to Moscow on Tuesday.

Media accounts which seek to explain the nature of his meeting with top Kremlin intelligence officials, while apparently being snubbed by Putin in terms of a direct interaction, have shifted in days since the visit. The early 'consensus' was that he delivered a stern warning for Russia not to attack any NATO state. But President Trump has poured cold water on this explanation, appearing to dismiss it outright in his latest comments. 

"I've had good talks with him. He's not going to be attacking a NATO territory," Trump said of Putin on Thursday while talking to reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump didn't answer specifically when pressed on if the president directed Ratcliffe to deliver a warning to Putin to not attack NATO. "I don't want to comment on that but they're not going to attack," Trump said.

While many times over the course of the Ukraine war, European heads of state have claimed that Russia is expansionist and seeks to attack countries in Europe beyond Ukraine, this has not ever been a public allegation of Trump, who has tended to downplay it as a possibility. 

Trump did deny the reports centered on Ratcliffe in an interview with Axios Thursday, saying "Ratcliffe sees his Russian counterpart once every six months or once every year. They have a very good relationship. There was no message and there was nothing unusual."

And when asked over whether he's concerned that Putin might attack NATO or deeper inside Europe, Trump replied, "I am not concerned … at all. There is no problem." According to more:

The president called Ratcliffe's trip "standard business" and expressed puzzlement over the media accounts of it.

But the reality is that no CIA director has made such a trip in well over four years. The prior time was November 2021, when then-CIA Director William Burns traveled to Moscow to meet with senior Russian officials and issued a stark warning against invading Ukraine.

It was also highly unexpected in terms of timing, given the stalemated nature of the Ukraine conflict, and the fact that zero peace negotiations are happening. There has not even so much as been any efforts at achieving a short-term ceasefire, akin to last year's Christmas truce.

Trump in the Oval on Thursday declaring confidently that no, the Russians are not going to attack NATO:

REPORTER: Did Ratcliffe delivered a warning to Russia not to attack NATO territory during his trip?

US PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I don't wanna comment on that, but they're not going to attack NATO. pic.twitter.com/TbAvq8NUJR

— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) August 27, 2026

One theory on the motive for Ratcliffe's trip, which has gained traction among independent analysts, is that it was focused on the Iran war amid allegations from US officials that Russia has assisted Tehran with targeting information on US troop and base whereabouts in the Mideast region.

At times throughout Operation Epic Fury, Tehran appears to have even targeted CIA stations. The bulk of American military assets and bases in the Gulf countries have suffered severe damage earlier in the conflict, resulting in a Pentagon troop drawback to safer areas. This is indeed a big deal if it is the case that Russia or China (or both) have handed the Iranians intel to help push back American bases and forces.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 12:10

Judge Again Rules Texas Drag Performance Law Unconstitutional

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on Tuesday again barred a Texas law that restricts public drag performances, ruling for a second time that the measure violates the U.S. Constitution's free-speech protections.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston declared Texas Senate Bill 12 an unconstitutional restriction on speech. He permanently enjoined Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing it.

"For those who find such activities as described in this case offensive, the solution is relatively simple ... just don't go," Hittner wrote in his opinion.

The ruling marks the second time Hittner has found the law in violation of the First Amendment. He granted a restraining order against the legislation in 2023. A Fifth Circuit panel later vacated the injunction in 2025 and remanded the case, allowing the law to take effect while the appeal moved through the courts.

Hittner reconsidered the First Amendment challenges under the Supreme Court's Moody framework - which provided criteria for determining whether performers' rights were violated - and the vagueness claims in the context of court precedent. He again found the statute overbroad and unconstitutionally vague.

The amended final judgment, entered Aug. 25, finds Senate Bill 12 violates the First Amendment as incorporated by the 14th Amendment, and immediately and permanently blocks the attorney general from enforcing it.

Senate Bill 12, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June 2023, targets "sexually oriented performances," imposes civil penalties on businesses hosting them when minors are present, authorizes local governments to regulate such shows, and creates Class A misdemeanor criminal penalties for performers of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The law bans "the exhibition of sexual gesticulations using accessories or prosthetics that exaggerate male or female sexual characteristics" in public or in venues where people under 18 might see them. It defines a sexually oriented performance as a visual performance featuring a nude performer or one engaging in sexual conduct that appeals to the prurient interest in sex.

Hittner found that performers ranging from Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley to Miley Cyrus could have faced penalties if their acts were viewed as erotic. Accessories and prosthetics that exaggerate sexual characteristics, hip gyrations, or certain clothing and gestures risked triggering the law even in non-obscene contexts such as theater, dance, or impersonation acts, he said.

Paxton, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, on Wednesday said he plans to appeal the decision.

"This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values," he wrote in a post on X. "I will appeal this decision immediately and continue to fight to protect our kids."

Paxton's office defended the legislation as a measure to protect children, pledging to exhaust the court system in pursuit of implementing the law.

Opponents said the law was too broad and aimed at LGBT performers.

"Today's decision confirms that the Legislature's attempt to ban drag performances was unconstitutional from start to finish," Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, which represented the plaintiffs, said in an Aug. 25 statement. "Drag has a rich history as a refuge of joy and liberation for countless Texans, and it's not going anywhere."

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 11:55

US Job Growth Revised Lower By 79,000 In Annual Benchmark Estimate

In our preview of today's preliminary benchmark revision of US jobs - published by the BLS 'conveniently' just as Kevin Warsh started to speak - we said that according to Goldman calculations, for the first time in 3 years and just the second time since 2018, the BLS was going to revisedpayrolls modestly higher "based on the nine months of data released since the last benchmarked period, March 2025."

Specifically, Goldman's economists expected "a preliminary upward revision on the order of 50-450k which would translate to a 5-40k upward revision to monthly payroll growth over April 2025-March 2026. A final revision of this magnitude would result in the average pace of payroll growth over April 2025-March 2026 being revised up from about 25k/month currently to 30-65k/month."

Alas, for one more year, it was not meant to be, and this morning the BLS announced that according to the preliminary estimate of the Current Employment Statistics (CES), the 2026 benchmark revision to total nonfarm employment for March 2026 was -79,000.  While just why of a positive revision, it was a far cry from last year's record 911K negative job revision. For context, annual benchmark revisions over the last 10 years have had absolute average of 0.2% of total nonfarm employment.

Additionally, the revision for total private employment was -178,000, which means that government jobs were revised higher by 99K.

The 178,000 negative revision for private payrolls in the year through March reflected weakness in retail trade, education and health services, manufacturing and business services. Employment increased in transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities and construction. 

It is likely that the final final revision will actually tip into the positive. In accordance with usual practice, the final benchmark revision will be issued in February 2027 with the publication of the January 2027 Employment Situation news release. As we noted earlier, preliminary estimates for the benchmark revision tend to understate the final revision: the nextx chart shows that the preliminary estimate has been below the final revision in each of the last six years, by roughly 100k on average, which suggests that today's -79K print will end up being in the +20K ballpark. This reflects that the QCEW itself has been revised up in every quarter since 2019 with the exception of 2020 H1, potentially reflecting ongoing issues with initial submissions to the administrative records that inform the QCEW

Before today's revision, government payrolls data indicated employers added 211,000 jobs in the year through March on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, or an average of 17,600 per month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The preliminary benchmark revision suggests average job growth was likely closer to 11,000 a month.

Preliminary benchmark revisions have now lowered employment estimates in seven of the past eight years. Even so, the latest adjustment suggests that the labor market is roughly balanced - with employers slow to hire new workers but also slow to fire existing staff.

The BLS each year benchmarks the March payrolls level to a more accurate but less timely data source called the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages that’s based on state unemployment insurance tax records and covers nearly all US jobs. While the new information improves the accuracy of its data, the process has gained additional attention in recent years.

Last year’s preliminary adjustment slashed employment estimates by the most on record, reigniting White House criticism of the BLS. About one month prior to the 2025 preliminary benchmark release, President Donald Trump fired the agency’s leader after a separate monthly report showed weak job growth. The Senate confirmed Trump’s pick to lead the BLS - Brett Matsumoto - on Aug. 7. Matsumoto, a PhD economist and BLS veteran, now helms an agency responsible for publishing some of the most market-moving statistics in the world.

What is behind the chronic negative revisions? First, there is the chronically wrong birth-death model, discussed extensively here in recent years. Yet just 14% of last year’s very large revision can be attributed to miscalibration of the birth-death model; the bulk instead falls into the residual category which would capture the reporting error arising from a systematic undercount of unauthorized workers.

As we discussed first a few years ago when we correctly previewed the massive negative revisions to 2023 and 2024 data, since the QCEW is based on unemployment insurance records, it likely excludes most unauthorized workers, who contributed to employment growth in the periods covered by those benchmark revisions. In most cases unauthorized workers do not qualify for unemployment insurance, so employers might see little reason to pay unemployment insurance tax on their behalf and might even see it as a needless risk in the cases of any immigrants they are employing who do not yet have work permits.

As such, the Trump admin's aggressive purging of illegal aliens - and workers - has led to significant real-time overestimates of the labor market in the monthly series, which are then revised away every year once it becomes clear that there were far fewer illegal aliens in the workforce. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 11:40

"Dark" Tanker Fleet Shatters Iran's Hormuz Stranglehold As Gulf Oil Exports Top Two-Thirds Of Pre-War Level

Brent crude futures initially jumped overnight after The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump has no interest in reviving the memorandum of understanding (interim peace deal) reached with Iran in June. The war-risk premium in Brent has since faded in New York premarket trading amid mounting developments this week that major Gulf producers, including Kuwait and Qatar, are increasing tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Emerging diplomatic traction between Oman and Iran has also further reduced the perceived risk of a prolonged disruption.

Reinforcing this week's developments, new data from Daan Struyven, Goldman's co-head of Global Commodities Research and head of oil research, show that Persian Gulf oil exports have recovered to more than two-thirds of prewar levels.

Struyven wrote in a note late Thursday that Gulf-area exports of crude and petroleum products have rebounded sharply to between 15 million and 16 million barrels per day, up from a March low of 5 million to 6 million barrels per day.

He said crude flows remain 7 million to 8 million barrels per day below prewar levels, but the recovery has been strong enough to ease fears of a prolonged disruption at the world's most important maritime chokepoint.

Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are estimated at 8 million to 10 million barrels per day. Traders surveyed by Bloomberg place that range much lower, at between 6 million and 8 million barrels per day.

"Although our estimates focus on total Gulf flows, the upward revisions suggest Strait of Hormuz oil transits are likely close to US officials' 8-10mb/d estimates. The rise in dark crossings by specialized shippers and in ship-to-ship transfers shows that producers and shippers are adapting to the Middle East conflict," Struyven told clients.

Related:

• Oil Dumps As Iran, Oman Push To Reopen Hormuz; Satellite Image Shows Gulf Producers Ramping Up

He noted, "Shipping markets now price in disruptions likely continuing well into 2027 (Exhibit 7). Still, potential additional dark flows and price-sensitive China net crude imports may moderate the upside to crude oil prices even if Mideast disruptions last longer. We continue to see greater price upside to European natural gas prices and deferred oil product prices in persistent disruption scenarios than for crude."

Readers by now understand that the energy crisis is not necessarily in crude oil but, in fact, in refined products, with the U.S. diesel crack spread trading at $93 per barrel Friday morning. The spread blew out last week, reaching a record above $100.

The takeaway from Goldman's Struyven is that, even though the critical waterway has not fully reopened, a growing fleet of dark tankers is transiting the strait and defying Iran's blockade. That raises the question we have asked in recent weeks: Is Iran's geopolitical leverage over the Strait of Hormuz eroding?

Overnight, Trump posted an image on Truth Social depicting the Strait of Hormuz as "New U.S. Territory."

In late March, we cited a note from Zoltan Pozsar's advisory firm, Ex Uno Plures, pointing out that Trump was "methodically building a portfolio of assets" to pressure China, including adding the Strait of Hormuz (read here).

The question is whether Trump will stop at Hormuz or embark on another crusade in the Gulf and take Iran's Kharg Island. This newly minted portfolio also includes Venezuela, where the U.S. is nearing a deal to secure long-term energy-producing assets in the country.

Professional subscribers can read the full GS note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 11:25

US Sanctions 3 Groups Accused Of Supporting Far-Left Terrorism

Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on three organizations it accuses of supporting far-left terrorism.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran, describing them as "an economic D-Day," in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department in Washington, on Aug. 24, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 26 sanctioned Italy-based Autistici/Inventati, the UK-based Palestine Action, and the transnational organization Masar Badil under executive order 13224, the government's principal counterterrorism sanctions authority.

"Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated."

Among the services the Treasury Department described Autistici/Inventati as providing to violent left-wing groups were website hosting, encrypted email, online chat, and video conferencing.

Autistici/Inventati restricts its services to people and organizations it has vetted who are aligned with its "anti-fascist," "anti-militarist," and anticapitalist ideology, according to the Treasury Department.

Austistici/Inventati was accused by the U.S. government of providing services to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the UK, and the European Union.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned Palestine Action, accusing the organization of committing break-ins at defense facilities and British military installations, injuring UK law enforcement officers, and causing millions of dollars in damage to military equipment. The British government designated Palestine Action as a terrorist organization in July 2025.

The organization Masar Badil was sanctioned for allegedly operating on behalf of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which the United States and Canada sanctioned in 2024. The Treasury Department described Samidoun as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

Autistici/Inventati denied the allegations in a statement posted on its blog, Cavallette. It described itself as a small, volunteer-run technology collective providing "digital self-defense" tools and communications services to activists, individuals, and organizations.

"We will not back down," the collective said, calling the allegations false and politically motivated. "Antifascism and anticapitalism are not terrorism. Protesting is not terrorism."

Huda Ammori, cofounder of Palestine Action, responded to the terrorist designation on X.

"As a Palestinian and Iraqi, the fact the country which destroyed both my homelands is calling me a terrorist, is beyond hypocritical," Ammori said in a post on X on Aug. 26.

He said President Donald Trump "is the antithesis to everything Palestine Action stands for."

Masar Badil also took to X to respond.

"Washington will not criminalize the struggle of our people nor will it strip them of their right to resistance and return," the organization posted on X on Aug. 27.

The U.S. sanctions block property and financial interests belonging to the designated parties that are in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons. They also generally prohibit Americans from conducting transactions involving the sanctioned organizations.

Foreign financial institutions may also face penalties for knowingly facilitating significant transactions on their behalf. The Treasury said sanctions may be lifted if designated parties successfully petition for removal or change the conduct that prompted the action.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 11:05

Conflict Hits 6 Months: Iran Says Diplomacy Can Return But "Pressure Doesn't Work"

In what will likely prove to be a very limited and ultimately unfruitful diplomatic overture, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas ​Araghchi has newly announced that Tehran views renewed talks with Washington as not impossible, and that dialogue can actually get on track - but so long as the US understands that pressure does not work.

In a Friday post on X, Araghchi ⁠acknowledged "creative discussions" ‌with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister ‌Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al -Thani, wherein the Iranian side expressed that US leadership must respect the Islamic Republic's sovereignty and rights.

Iranian state sources

"Putting diplomacy back on track isn't impossible. It hinges on U.S. understanding of one simple fact: pressure doesn't work. The U.S. should build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments," Araghchi stated.

The talks with the top Qatari delegation happened in Tehran, and according to a summary from Doha's side:

• Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said talks covered efforts to de-escalate regional tensions and a proposed interim framework establishing “a temporary joint shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz,” alongside a joint operation to clear mines from the strait.
• Al Thani stressed “the necessity of respecting the sovereignty of neighboring countries and freedom of navigation” and resolving disputes through dialogue.
• According to Qatar’s readout, Araghchi thanked Doha for its diplomatic efforts supporting dialogue and de-escalation.

And yet, President Trump has this week insisted that all mines are already clear from the strait, as a result of the work of the US Navy. It has remained unclear what precise data or confirmation he is relying on.

As for Qatar, it along with Pakistan helped broker the memorandum of understanding in June, which has since gone defunct and is also now expired.

President Trump had once again on Thursday claimed that Iran is "begging to make a deal" - something which is not evident in any public stance or statements out of Iran.

Instead, Iranian officials have continued by and large striking a defiant tone, with the Foreign Ministry on Friday blasting the "economic terrorism" of the Trump administration. 

"The US abuse of the dollar as a tool to intimidate other countries in order to force them to follow its interventionist policies, which violate international law, in relation to Iran, constitutes a violation of the national sovereignty and right to self-determination of all member states of the United Nations," the statement said. "US sanctions against Iran, due to both their nature and consequences, constitute a flagrant violation of the UN Charter." 

The NY Times on Friday underscores that Friday is precisely the six month mark of the Iran conflict, writing:

It was supposed to be quick.

Still, six months after the U.S. and Israel launched massive airstrikes on Iran, the conflict drags on. The Trump administration has replaced its military war with an economic one, but the result is likely to be no different, analysts said, with a lack of American clarity about goals, a decline in American credibility and a strategic defeat.

One thing remains constant, however. The ordinary people of Iran are bearing the brunt of the war, victims of both the United States and their own leaders.

Postmortem and blame game on another 'war of choice' in the Middle East begins...

Meanwhile, some analysts warn that Washington's Iran-related secondary sanctions could have the opposite of the intended effect, and ultimately hasten a global trend of de-dollarization. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 10:45

Americans' Confidence Dips In August As Chicago PMI Plunges Into Contraction

The MNI Chicago PMI for August was a disaster, printing below even the worst analyst's expectations.

Against expectations of a rise to 57.9, the headline print crashed from 57.6 to 47.1 (flashing recession signals)...

Prices paid accelerated while the overall business barometer plunged into contraction.

That is the biggest MoM drop since COVID...

However, in the face of that collapse in business confidence, UMich reported US consumer sentiment fell in August for the first time in three months on a worsening economic outlook, even as expectations for inflation in the year ahead eased.

The University of Michigan’s sentiment index decreased to 51.7 in August, according to data released Friday. The final reading was slightly improved from the preliminary reading and above expectations.

Sentiment declines in August were seen for all political groups and were particularly acute among Republicans. 

Year-ahead inflation expectations tumbled  to 4.0%.

The current reading still substantially exceeds the 3.4% seen in February before the Iran conflict began, along with all 2024 readings.

Long-run inflation expectations held steady at 3.3% for the third consecutive month, remaining a bit higher than its 2024 range of 2.8% to 3.2%.

Consumers continue to worry that “inflation will remain elevated for the foreseeable future,” Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said in a statement.

“In addition to the pocketbook issues that have been central to consumers’ views of the economy, they are increasingly worried that prospects elsewhere in the economy could be weakening,” she added.

With ongoing policy uncertainty including the Iran conflict, consumers anticipate further increases in gasoline prices both in the short and long run.

Interestingly, stockholders remain more fearsome of inflation than non-stockholders...

So, while stocks are testing record highs, businesses are suffering recession-like symptoms, and the 'average joe' appears to be getting less confident (despite inflation fears fading).

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 10:32

Judge Rules Trump Admin Illegally Retaliated Against Anthropic Over AI Red Lines

Via Decrypt.co,

In brief

• Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic summary judgment on its First Amendment, due process and Administrative Procedure Act claims in a 59-page order.

• The government conceded Anthropic has no backdoor access to deployed models and is no riskier than any other AI system.

• Anthropic lost on one count, its claim that Trump's directive to federal agencies exceeded presidential power.

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration illegally punished Anthropic for publicly refusing to let the military use its Claude LLM for tasks including mass surveillance of Americans and lethal autonomous warfare.

The dispute began when the Pentagon told Anthropic to strip all usage restrictions and accept a clause permitting "all lawful uses." Anthropic dropped most of them and held two red lines.

On February 27, Trump ordered every federal agency to stop using the company's technology, calling it a "RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY" on Truth Social.

Hegseth followed, accusing Anthropic in a tweet of "a master class in arrogance and betrayal" and barring any military contractor from doing business with it.

What the record showed

The government has since abandoned its central claim.

Its risk assessment rested on Anthropic having backdoor access to deployed models, and it now concedes Anthropic has no such access and that Claude is no riskier than any other "black box" system.

That left one factor: trust, forfeited by what a Pentagon memo called Anthropic's "increasingly hostile manner through the press."

Lin found the timeline gave that away.

Days before the blacklisting, Hegseth had floated invoking the Defense Production Act, which would have made Anthropic essential to national security. The day after the designation, an under secretary emailed the company to say a contract was "very close."

The government is still discussing collaboration on Mythos, Anthropic's newest model, across sensitive contexts, Lin added.

"The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics," Lin wrote, finding the actions retaliatory under the First Amendment, imposed without the pre-deprivation process the Fifth Amendment requires, outside the supply chain statute, and arbitrary and capricious.

Anthropic did not win everything.

Lin rejected its argument that Trump's directive exceeded presidential authority, and entered judgment for agencies that took no action.

She vacated the designation and Hegseth's boycott order, granted a permanent injunction, and denied the government's request for a seven-day administrative stay, noting it had operated under a preliminary injunction since March without identifying any harm.

Anthropic told the court the measures, left standing, would cut its defense-related revenue by 50% to 100% and its 2026 revenue by billions.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/28/2026 - 10:15