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The furniture giant is throwing a cheekily named "Meatballbecue" at its sprawling Southern California store this weekend.

Senate Passes The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia & Iran Act Of 2026

On Friday the Senate finally passed a bill imposing major new sanctions on Russia due to the grinding war which has been going since February 2022.

The bill had bipartisan support, with a vote of 86 to 11, and now it will go to the House - where it is expected to be passed there too. After a year of negotiations and holdups based largely on prior White House pushback, the 'breakthrough' is largely the result of the death of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

The bill is called literally the The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 - which aptly reveals the late senator's hawkish stance on all 'official enemies'.

In places he couldn't start a war, he would certainly at least advocate for hard-hitting sanctions, which technically is itself an act of war. In many ways Graham continued with the mantle of John McCain - who never saw a conflict he didn't want to rush American forces into.

The newly Senate-passed sanctions act "allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas." There are some crucial caveats:

There are exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking "significant" steps to reduce the imports. It also includes sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials within his government, oligarchs and Russian banks and financial institutions. 

It remains that China and India are the largest buyers of Russian crude oil, but there are also still some EU countries which have remained under pressure to cut their Russian imports significantly.

The sanctions also extend Washington's ongoing economic warfare on Iran's energy and weapons sectors, which was an expected part of the legislation. 

Proud 2 support Sen passage of Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in BIG bipart vote 86-11 This bill holds Putin accountable for largest land war in Europe since WWII+ protects our natl security

It wldnt hv been possible w/o the work of our late colleague Lindsey Graham

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 7, 2026

Sen. Graham had actually spent spent years trying to finally advance it across the finish line, but the Trump administration had initially entered the White House loudly pushing diplomacy with Moscow and the idea that a swift end to the over four-year long war could be achieved by Trump's direct mediation and negotiating prowess. The policy reached an apex with the Trump-Putin Alaska summit, but failed to take off from there.

Instead, the world is currently witnessing the war's biggest escalatory phase in years, especially given the nightly major Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy sites and infrastructure. Russia's aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including on the capital, has in turn stepped up.

Trump on Lindsey Graham: "I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into, you know, keeping it going, frankly."

Trump on Lindsey Graham:

I wanted to see the war with Ukraine end very quickly. I think he was more into, you know, keeping it going, frankly.pic.twitter.com/sjHCNcMsZn

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 12, 2026

Pro-Ukraine hawks have been salivating and waiting for this moment, and again lawmakers have been bipartisan on this. For example, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, previously announced that passing the bill would serve as a "fitting memorial" to Graham and everything he represented.

"There can be no more fitting memorial to Lindsey, his legacy, or the causes he fought for, than to pass this legislation and realize his long-held dream of an independent and secure Ukraine," she said.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 15:00

On a new episode of Liberty Lately, Madeline Kenney and Dexter Henry reflect on Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s tenure with the Liberty after the club’s decision to part ways with a key player from the 2024 WNBA title squad. Full video: https://youtu.be/MQm4rwZtCBc

The New York Liberty have made a major roster change, releasing championship guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and signing Marine Fauthoux to a multiyear contract. On the latest episode of Liberty Lately, Dexter Henry and Madeline Kenney discuss why the Liberty moved on from Laney-Hamilton after the trade deadline, whether she deserved a more graceful ending and...

Harry Jowsey has survived “Too Hot to Handle,” “Perfect Match,” and just about every dating show imaginable, but can he survive a round of “Shaken Not Stirred”? As the reality TV mainstay takes the reins of his own Netflix dating series, “Let’s Marry Harry,” we put his dating show résumé, pop culture knowledge, and celebrity...

Harry Jowsey has survived “Too Hot to Handle,” “Perfect Match,” and just about every dating show imaginable, but can he survive a round of “Shaken Not Stirred”? As the reality TV mainstay takes the reins of his own Netflix dating series, “Let’s Marry Harry,” we put his dating show résumé, pop culture knowledge, and celebrity...

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Eric Swalwell leveraged his past sexual relationship with Katie Miller, wife of top Trump official Stephen Miller, to keep potentially embarrassing FBI files behind lock and key, a shocking new report revealed Thursday.

The twisted mother was caught on camera trying to inject her sick child's IV with fecal matter.

Uncertainty Rules!

By Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank

US Treasury yields drifted higher yesterday after the Financial Times reported, citing people close to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, that he would be prepared to raise rates as early as September if incoming inflation data surprise to the upside and markets themselves begin pricing a more hawkish path. Yet the market reaction was not confined to the front end suggesting investors were not interpreting the story in a straightforwardly hawkish manner.

That ambiguity is understandable. If markets push yields higher on expectations of tighter policy, the Fed may feel less need to deliver that tightening. Note also that Warsh himself was not speaking, and one of his recurring themes has been a dislike of explicit forward guidance. Moreover, September remains some distance away in market time, particularly in an environment where geopolitical developments can overturn macro narratives overnight.

Indeed, whilst oil prices had come down in the early part of this week on the back of renewed signs that the Strait of Hormuz could gradually reopen, those same prices rose again overnight as a convincing agreement remains elusive as it offers no permanent solutions for the key sticking points. Instead, it offers another 60-day window of free transits through Hormuz while further negotiations resume. Reports suggest Iran is looking to restrict US and Israeli ships from the Strait and it’s been ear-deafening silent on the ‘nuclear’ issue, for example. If a deal is agreed, it could be a matter of time until either party expresses frustration with the negotiations again and markets are forced to price in another few weeks of geopolitical tension.

Meanwhile, refined products are feeling the pinch of impending shortages, leading us to revise up sharply our forecasts for diesel, gasoil and marine fuels, as our senior energy analyst Joe DeLaura writes. In Europe, it is the winter-demand pressure that hangs over the market. The underpriced risk is that Europe’s own weather stress raises gas burn through the power sector just as LNG supply risks remain elevated, our senior energy analyst Florence Schmitt writes.

European macro data offered little inspiration yesterday. German factory orders surprised to the upside in June, though largely thanks to volatile big-ticket orders. This morning saw industrial production tick 0.2% m/m higher that month, but this was offset by lower growth in the previous month. Elsewhere, the picture was even less encouraging. Industrial production fell in both Spain and Italy, raising the possibility that the eurozone's preliminary 0.4% q/q GDP growth estimate may yet be revised lower. Eurozone retail sales also disappointed, falling 0.3% m/m in June and largely offsetting May's upwardly revised increase. The broader message is that growth concerns are unlikely to disappear simply because oil prices have eased from their recent highs.

In fact, what increasingly defines the global economy is not any single shock, but the relentless arrival of new ones. Businesses and households are being bombarded (in some regions rather literally) by an overlapping set of disruptions: trade disputes, geopolitical conflict, policy uncertainty, financial market volatility, technological disruption and natural disasters. The first eight months of 2026 have already provided a year's worth of such events.

The obvious example is the Middle East conflict and the disruption of shipping through Hormuz. But it is far from the only one. Investors continue to grapple with uncertainty surrounding the US tariff regime, while questions persist over the sustainability of the AI investment boom and the valuations attached to it. A rising string of hacking reports and AI models behaving unexpectedly has raised concerns over AI’s controllability.

In Europe, concerns are mounting over intensifying Chinese competition and the growing economic costs of climate change. Scorching temperatures, drying rivers and devastating wildfires have already become defining features of this summer. Looking ahead, forecasters are increasingly focused on the emergence of a potential "super El Niño" event, which could amplify weather-related disruptions across a wide range of emerging and developed economies.

Yet uncertainty is more than merely a transmission channel for shocks. It is an economic force in its own right.

Franklin D. Roosevelt famously captured this during the depths of the Great Depression when he declared in his first inaugural address that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Nearly a century later, the insight remains remarkably relevant. Uncertainty can paralyze decision-making, delay investment, encourage precautionary saving and ultimately amplify the effects of whatever shock triggered it in the first place.

An interesting ECB study published in its latest Economic Bulletin broadly confirms the point. Looking at the eurozone, the analysis finds that uncertainty shocks tend to reduce investment, particularly spending on tangible capital, as well as consumer purchases of durable goods. The effects are most visible during the first two to four quarters following the shock. Importantly, however, the impact appears largely transitory. After an initial decline, activity tends to recover and the long-run effect on output is limited.

Part of that result may reflect modelling choices. But there is also an intuitive economic explanation: people learn. Households, businesses and investors gradually adapt to recurring shocks. The unfamiliar becomes familiar. What initially causes panic eventually becomes incorporated into decision-making. That observation brings us back to a theme from our Monthly Outlook, Groundhog Day Economics: markets seem to become more accustomed to geopolitical disruptions, yet every recurring script carries the risk of a very different ending.

Interestingly, the same logic may apply in reverse. As our colleague Stefan Koopman argues here, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham may seek to replace "securonomics" with a form of "vibonomics": generating a series of positive confidence shocks before embarking on more politically difficult structural reforms. The idea is simple enough. If uncertainty depresses activity, improved confidence can temporarily support it.

The key word, however, is temporarily. The lesson from both the ECB's research and recent market experience is that confidence effects can move demand forward in time, but they do not permanently raise an economy's growth potential. Lower precautionary savings may provide a one-off boost to spending. Positive sentiment may temporarily lift GDP. But neither changes the underlying supply capacity of an economy.

Ultimately, uncertainty may rule the headlines, and confidence may shape the near-term cycle. But lasting prosperity still depends on a far less fashionable ingredient: stronger supply-side growth.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 14:40

Two for the price of not even one.

Trump Threatens To Jail Arms Shortage 'Leakers'

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

President Trump on Thursday threatened "leakers" with jail time over reports about dwindling US military stockpiles as a result of the Iran war, and claimed the US had plenty of munitions available.

"The US has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Official White House Photo

"Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The 'leakers' of these treasonous statements are being hunted down," the president added.

Some of the most significant reports about the shortage of advanced munitions didn’t come from media reports but from analysis published by the think tank the Center for International Studies (CSIS), which used publicly available data to produce its estimates.

CSIS found that the US has used about 60% of its advanced Patriot air defense missiles and about half of its interceptors for the THAAD missile defense system, though sources told CNN that the US had actually used about 80% of its THAADs during the war.

While Trump says that US arms makers are working to produce more munitions, the current rate of weapons use far exceeds the rate at which they can be produced, and it will take years to significantly increase production.

Media reports have also said that the US has used up nearly all of its ATACMS missiles and Precision-Strike Missiles, which were both used extensively in strikes on Iran.

Trump also responded to a report from The Washington Post that said he lashed out at US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over the munitions shortages, which one source told the outlet was part of the reason why Trump held off on his threats to dramatically escalate the war.

Sources told the Post that on the sidelines of a recent cabinet meeting at Camp David, Trump vented his frustration at Hegseth over the munitions shortages. The report said that Hegseth then blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for both the shortages and for failing to ensure Trump was informed about the issue.

Asked about dwindling US weapons stockpiles, President Trump on Thursday said there's a "virtual unlimited supply" of certain munitions and "we have others where it’s a little bit tighter" https://t.co/UFMSGvXiWa pic.twitter.com/lZtfbSuKgB

— Bloomberg (@business) August 6, 2026

"The Fake News, as usual, is spreading false and completely unfounded rumors. I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing," Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said that the Post published the report "despite our telling them their story is completely FALSE" and added that he believed their "fake ‘reporting’ is treasonous."

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/07/2026 - 14:00

What an odd thing Apple TV's Sugar has become.

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Former Los Angeles Rams legend defensive tackle Aarond Donald is serious about a comeback to the NFL and the latest nugget from head coach Sean McVay cemented that notion. On Thursday, McVay revealed Donald flew his speed trainer out from Pittsburgh to LA for his workout with the team the day prior. Aaron Donald is...

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The booking changes come as other cruise lines have also introduced policies that have frustrated some travelers.