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Norway $2.3 Trillion Wealth Fund Posts Record-High Profit in H1

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s $2.3-trillion Government Pension Fund Global, posted a record-high profit of $185 billion for the first half of 2026, as Asian technology stocks boosted its returns and profit on the portfolio.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is commonly referred to as 'Norway's oil fund' because it was created with oil and gas revenues, is a shareholder in many large companies in the world, with more than half of the value of its equity investments in the U.S. market. The Norwegian fund was created in the 1990s, and today it holds, on average, 1.5% of all listed companies in the world.

For the first half of the year, the fund posted a record profit on the portfolio before foreign exchange adjustments at 1.753 billion Norwegian crowns, or $185 billion, the fund’s manager, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), said on Wednesday.

This is more than double compared to the profit for the first half of last year, amid a rally in technology stocks.

“The result is driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks,” said Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.

The investments in the Government Pension Fund Global returned a record-high 9.4% in Norwegian crowns in the first half of 2026, up by 0.22 percentage points compared to the return on the benchmark index. The fund’s value was 22.683 trillion crowns, or $2.39 trillion, as of June 30, up by 1.416 trillion crowns, or $149 billion, from the same time a year earlier.

Equity investments accounted for 72.1% of the fund’s value at the end of the first half of 2026, and fixed-income investments for 25.8%. Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft are the most valuable investments of the Norwegian wealth fund.

The fund’s equity investments returned 13.0% in the first half of 2026, with telecommunications, technology, and energy delivering the strongest returns, NBIM said.

Earlier this month, NBIM told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it doesn’t support its proposal to scrap outright current requirements for climate-related risks and disclosures.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 05:00

Danube Water Levels Sink To Historic Lows

The Danube and other rivers in Europe are experiencing historic drought conditions which have thrown shipping, tourism and energy supply into disarray.

Additionally, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, the sinking water levels that have set new all-time records in some locations have revealed historic finds from World War II to Roman times and even the Ice Age.

You will find more infographics at Statista

At the end of last month, 200 cruise passengers had to be evacuated when a Viking line river cruise ship ran aground near Vidin, Bulgaria.

As of early August, cruise lines on the Danube, the Rhine and the Main are still disrupted, with itineraries being adjusted or canceled outright.

Not only tourism industries are suffering from the drought, however.

Critical energy infrastructure, agriculture and food supply routes are also in distress as the Danube provides irrigation to farmers and cooling to power plants.

On August 3, Romanian authorities carried out a controlled explosion to divert water flow towards the country's only nuclear plant after it already had to shut down one of its two reactors in late July due to water shortages, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency. Last Thursday, it also sank four rock-laden barges in a similar plight. However, the shutdown of the second reactor on Thursday remains a possibility. A Hungarian nuclear plant which was powered down due to the low water levels is meanwhile expected to resume operations.

Like in 2022 drought conditions, the Serbian village of Prahovo saw several German World War II shipwrecks emerge which had been sunk there deliberately at the end of the war. The same happened to Budapest's Franz Joseph bridge which German forces destroyed in 1945 while retreating and which has become visible underwater from its successor structure. Also in Budapest, the discovery of the remains of two German Wehrmacht soldiers as well as a Wehrmacht motorcycle made headlines. Yet another World War II relic surfaced in Virt, Slovakia, in the form of a naval mine.

Going back in time further to the Roman era, another old bridge, or in this case its foundations, emerged from the water near Gigen in Bulgaria. In the vicinity of Hungary's Szalki Island, archaeologists discovered a part of a Roman altar dedicated to the god Jupiter and two more pieces of inscribed limestone. From the medieval age, a suspected catapult projectile was discovered in Visegrad, Hungary. Finally, the oldest find goes back the Ice Age: Mammoth bones and tusks were revealed by the retreating river in Ruse, Bulgaria, and specialists have confirmed the discovery.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 04:15

The Ceuta Crisis And The Emerging European Divide

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

Eleven years have passed since Angela Merkel opened the floodgates of migration to chaos. The European Union, already firmly in the grip of statists and numerous left-wing currents, has since become almost unrecognizable. The advance of Islamization and the dissolution of established urban milieus, traditions and cultures are progressing and contributing to the disintegration of European societies.

What is particularly striking is the emergence of a kind of Islamo-Marxist movement, a fusion of radical socialist social ideals with a Sharia-based reinterpretation of society – as long as it is directed against the bourgeois West and the civilizational achievements of old Europe. Migration from North Africa and the Middle East is the united Left’s battering ram against the remnants of bourgeois European societies.

Against an increasingly tense backdrop came the Ceuta crisis: the invasion of more than seventy thousand mostly young men, tolerated as a triviality by the Spanish government – initially portrayed by the mainstream media, in a desperate attempt, as a kind of party invasion, later as a wave of poverty migration, and finally, with some reluctance, as an organized and aggressive political act. In the end, one sober conclusion remains: The European Union has no effective border protection whatsoever. Its organization Frontex is a band-aid, hastily stuck onto the gaping wound of a migration policy that, in reality, has made mass migration a goal of the left-wing consensus.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is one of the leading proponents of the EU’s political mainstream. The socialist, whose government only a few weeks ago registered 1.3 million applications to legalize immigrants residing illegally in the country – more than twice as many as originally expected – has also accepted a ruling by the Supreme Court that has effectively turned the sea route into a safe route to Spain: Only those who forcibly cross border fences may be sent back; anyone who lands by boat already enjoys state privileges. Sánchez has become a bridgehead for illegal migration into the EU – a Merkel multiplier, if you will.

At least we now have clarity: The Ceuta crisis exposes the dividing line between the socialists in the EU and the slowly but surely emerging national-conservative front.

What happened? During the night of July 31, around 72,000 people, most of them young men, crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. According to Spanish figures, around 70,000 of them left the territory again within a few days – officially “voluntarily.” Madrid described the situation as being under control; in reality, it was a capitulation to sheer numbers.

The Spanish government’s complete failure caused considerable anger, particularly in Rome. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted on the very day of the chaos and suspended the Schengen Agreement with regard to Spain. She spoke of shocking images from Ceuta and announced via X that Italy would not stand idly by and would, if necessary, take extraordinary measures to protect its own country from negative consequences. Her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani ultimately implemented the closure of the Schengen area to Spain, citing the threat to national security.

A reaction from Madrid was not long in coming. One week later, on August 9, Spain turned the tables and has since been carrying out checks on travelers arriving from Italy at internal borders, ports and airports – officially, the measure is limited until September 7. The justification is cynical, if not comical, given that it comes from Spain, Europe’s migration chaos country: Persistent pressure from irregular migration from Italy had prompted the response, the government in Madrid announced.

Meloni seized the opportunity and, together with Denmark’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, initiated an open letter to the EU institutions, signed by 22 member states, calling for a coordinated response to illegal migration and stronger EU external borders. The message from the two politicians: They will not accept uncontrolled migration into Europe and are themselves now pursuing a stricter immigration policy.

The two politicians may thus be outlining the one viable option for the future of the European Union: A jointly financed and highly professional system for protecting the EU’s external border would be one of its pillars alongside a deregulated internal market – external security and free competition within. The EU could be placed on a new foundation if it concentrated on its core responsibilities and abandoned the moralizing path of ever-growing bureaucracy. For now, however, national law stands in the way.

The socialist Sánchez will do everything he can, much like the German government, to ensure that the flow of migration does not stop. Too much is at stake: new voter potential and the conviction of the united Left that, in a globalized world, no national cultural enclaves should be tolerated. It is the heartfelt concern of all those on the Left to whom, significantly, Angela Merkel – politically socialized in East Germany – gave voice and political expression.

The dispute over Ceuta describes the dividing line between the socialist forces within the EU and the emerging national conservatives, whose informal spokesperson appears to be Italy’s prime minister. Certainly, the electoral defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was an important victory for supporters of open borders, mass migration and globalism. His successor, Péter Magyar, has since been working under enormous pressure to dismantle Fortress Hungary and bring the country back into the migration flow. 

This does not change the fact that national-conservative voices are making themselves heard in almost every country of the European Union, demanding a return to reason, to European values and, above all, to a border regime that is known to be the very foundation of statehood: A state without borders is not a state, but a settlement zone, a product of chaos – a volatile entity that sinks into the waves of poverty and crime faster than even the Left could imagine.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe, born in 1978 in Neuss/ Germany, is a graduate economist. For over 25 years, he has worked as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 03:30

US Embassies Across Mideast Are Permanently Reassigning Personnel 

It is not just America's military bases in the Middle East which have been greatly reduced in terms of personnel or in some cases completely abandoned altogether due to the Iran war, but US Embassies in the region have also suffered forced downgrades of staff.

Iran's retaliation on US locations and assets across the region was much bigger and more effective than US planners apparently expected, and this could have lasting impact on how US military and diplomatic deployments operate in the region.

In some cases, such as the US Embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone, diplomatic compounds have been directly targeted by Iranian fire or that their proxies. And now, "The State Department is asking US embassies in the Middle East to create plans to continue operating with a small number of staff on the ground, sources told CNN, as the war with Iran shows no signs of resolution."

US Embassy in Amman, Jordan. via Xinhua

One aspect to the report which points to a likely permanent new arrangement is that embassy staff that had been relocated due to the war are now being offered reassignments.

CNN continues, "Additionally, personnel who have been displaced from their posts in the Middle East are increasingly being given the option to curtail their assignments, the sources said.

"The plans have not been finalized, the sources said, and it is unclear if they will be implemented at all of the embassies that are currently on reduced staffing," the report adds.

Importantly, it concludes: "Still, the developments underscore that the State Department does not expect to return to normal staffing in the region soon amid the looming threat of a full-scale return to war."

What's more is that throughout the most intense phase of the war, the Iranians claimed to have targeted compounds and hotels where diplomats and even intelligence officials were being housed.

The fact that the US State Department remains worried enough to now be hatching plans for an at least semi-permanent drawdown from these locations suggest this Iranian targeting was effective to some extent. Currently, most of the US embassies across the region are shuttered for their normal operations. For example, the US Embassy in Jordan has ceased from normal operations for several months, stretching back to the very start of Operation Epic Fury, the bulk of its staff having long ago departed.

Recent NY Times reporting underscores that Iranian missiles are technologically advanced enough to punch through US regional anti-air defenses. This has especially been on display in Jordan:

During five intense days last month, Iran launched waves of drones and missiles at U.S. troops on three bases in Jordan, hoping to break through the formidable American air defenses.

Using advanced missiles that can suddenly change course, Iran pummeled the bases’ defensive systems, forcing the Americans to burn through scarce supplies of Patriot interceptors.

On the fifth day, the Iranians broke through.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other US officials have lately admitted that Iranian missiles have evaded America's air defenses:

A missile struck prefabricated housing units at one of the bases on July 17, killing three U.S. soldiers and wounding more than 100. Pentagon officials later acknowledged that scores of other troops were injured and several aircraft damaged in attacks in Jordan that week.

“We shot down almost all the missiles,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said when asked about the fatal attack. “One leaked through.”

The strikes reveal a deadly confluence of two important trends: First, Iran has become a more skilled adversary as the war has progressed, learning how to evade U.S. air defenses as it widened the battlefield to include most of the Middle East and enlisted allies like the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq.

Second, the Pentagon’s supply of interceptors has quickly dwindled, with the weapons becoming more precious each day of the off-and-on conflict.

"The Iranian debasification campaign appears to be working.

The US force in the region is likely incapable of generating the same combat power in its air operations against Iran as it could when the war started, and things are trending ever further in a negative direction.…

— Alex Shams (@alexshams_) July 21, 2026

Interestingly, the NY Times concludes something that should have been glaringly obvious. It has even been predicted in Pentagon and US intelligence war-gaming exercises from years ago...

"The two trends drive home a point that has slowly emerged in the months since the war started, that a global superpower with a mighty military footprint can still be held at bay by a lesser adversary willing to wage asymmetric warfare to find any advantage it can," The Times writes. Once also could have just looked at the 'forever wars' in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 02:45

Left-Wing German Parties Pour Record Sums Into Stopping The AfD In The East

Via Remix News,

Germany’s Green Party is campaigning with record sums of money in the eastern German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to keep the Alternative for Germany (AfD) out of power.

Remarkably, the Greens are campaigning with an intensity usually reserved for a national election, despite the party’s own election chances appearing rather dismal. In fact, in both states, the Greens are under threat of not even making it into parliament.

Saxony-Anhalt is by far the most important election, as there is a realistic chance that the AfD alone will obtain an absolute majority, thereby capturing the first real position of power in its history. In such a scenario, the parties of the German mainstream will be forced to cooperate with it.

Voters will choose their state legislatures, known as the Landtags, in close succession on Sept. 6 and Sept. 20, with the Greens campaigning on the slogan: “5% for the Greens in the Landtag – 0% AfD government.”

Sonntagsfrage zur Landtagswahl in Sachsen-Anhalt • INSA/BILD: AfD 42 % | CDU 22 % | DIE LINKE 13 % | SPD 6 % | BSW 5 % | FDP 4 % | GRÜNE 4 % | Sonstige 4 %
➤ Verlauf: https://t.co/lMOn56cNLK
🗓️ Landtagswahl: 6. September 2026 #ltwlsa #ltwst pic.twitter.com/SHYaagXPWm

— Wahlrecht.de (@Wahlrecht_de) August 10, 2026

The math of the campaign is simple. If the Greens achieve 5 percent of the vote, it drastically reduces the chances of the AfD obtaining an absolute majority. Parties that score 5 percent are able to enter parliament, and the more parties that enter, the higher the AfD must score to obtain an absolute majority. Currently, the AfD has approximately 42 percent of the vote.

Right now, the Greens are under threat of being kicked out of parliament, as polling shows them consistently below the 5 percent threshold. In the last East German elections in 2024, in Thuringia and Brandenburg, the Greens were kicked out of the local Landtags; in Saxony, they just barely squeaked in. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the 5 percent entry threshold was not even exceeded in the previous elections.

How much money is at stake?

In Saxony-Anhalt, the state campaign budget of the Greens now equals €1.5 million, which is the highest budget in the history of the provincial party organization, more than double the previous record, according to German newspaper Welt. Only 40 percent of this sum comes from donations.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the budget is a more modest €800,000 — more than double what was originally planned for in December 2025. In addition to subsidies, the surplus was provided by subsidies from other provincial party organizations.

By comparison, the far larger leading ruling party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), is campaigning in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with about a million euros.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is preparing to defend its title under the leadership of Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, will campaign with €1.1 million, which is the same as the 2021 budget, but more donations will flow there than before.

As a result, the ruling SPD in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will be campaigning with less money than the Greens fighting for parliamentary entry in Saxony-Anhalt.

The budget of the Left Party has also jumped significantly. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party is also running for election with a record amount of €600,000, and in Saxony-Anhalt they are also running with a record high of €562,000. In both states, the party reports increased willingness among individuals to vote.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 02:00

GOA Members Make History With First Suppressor Transfers Without NFA Registration Since 1934

via Gun Owners of America,

Gun Owners of America (GOA), along with lead plaintiff Silencer Shop, made history tonight as GOA members Brandon Herrera and Wes Virdell lawfully acquired suppressors without complying with the currently enjoined registration requirements of the National Firearms Act of 1934.

The transfers took place at Silencer Shop's new storefront in Leander, Texas immediately after midnight on August 13th. Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-09) and GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt were also in attendance.

Remember: GOA and our allies are proceeding with this transfer after consulting legal counsel and making an informed decision.

If you plan to do the same, consult your own attorney first to ensure you’re complying with all other applicable laws. https://t.co/GiCLcC2PgO

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 12, 2026

GOA spearheaded the repeal of a 1934 law regulating suppressors and short-barreled firearms in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That milestone would not have been possible without Congressman Clyde's tireless efforts to dismantle the NFA and President Trump's signature. The passage of this GOA-backed provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act paved the way for GOA's One Big Beautiful Lawsuit which has now culminated in a federal court order currently enjoining ATF enforcement of NFA registration requirements for suppressors and short-barreled firearms, and "any other weapons."

Previously, GOA, Silencer Shop, Herrera, and Virdell formally notified the Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of their intent to complete the transfers without NFA registration. Because the ATF did not object, Silencer Shop transferred the unregistered suppressors to Herrera and Virdell in accordance with all other applicable federal and state laws.

This marks the first time since the NFA was enacted on June 26, 1934, that Americans can lawfully acquire suppressors without complying with the federal registration scheme. Our victory went into effect at 12:01 A.M. CT and we notified ATF and DOJ that we intended to conduct the first unregistered suppressor transfer in 92 years.

Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement:

"GOA fought to crush the NFA's unconstitutional restrictions through the One Big Beautiful Bill, but we didn't stop there. We promised to keep fighting until these restrictions were gone, and now our members are putting the historic victory into action. The era of federal registration for constitutionally protected arms must end."

Brandon Herrera, Candidate for Texas Congressional District 23, issued the following statement:

"I'm happy to once again be working with Gun Owners of America to help be the tip of the spear fighting for gun owners, constitutional rights, and civil rights of not only Texans, but all Americans."

Dave Matheny, Founder and CEO of Silencer Shop, issued the following statement:

"We couldn't be more excited for our customers, dealers, and the future of the Second Amendment. This is a huge victory, but we still have a long way to go; and Silencer Shop will continue to lead the way along-side GOA, FRAC, ASA, Silencer Shop Foundation, and the many other groups who are working to unwind the NFA. We're truly humbled to be part of such a monumental event."

Lauren Spivey, CEO of Silencer Shop Foundation, issued the following statement:

"This win belongs to the people and customers who made it possible. The Silencer Shop Foundation is funded entirely by supporters who believe law-abiding Americans deserve to exercise their Second Amendment rights, and their support let us take this fight to the ATF and win a strong ruling from the court. We're proud of what we've done together, and we'll keep working to ensure all lawful Americans are protected under this ruling."

Jamin McCallum, Founder and CEO of Palmetto State Armory, issued the following statement:

"Today marks more than the first NFA-free suppressor transfer under this injunction, it marks the moment years of fighting became real for the American people. We're proud to have stood alongside Gun Owners of America and others who made this victory possible, and we'll continue fighting to expand freedom and defend the rights of everyday Americans."

Wes Virdell, Member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 53, issued the following statement:

"It's hard to believe we have moved the needle so far. What was once considered unachievable is now a reality, because of Gun Owners of America and Silencer Shop. GOA never gave up the fight to get here. I am grateful to be a part of this history happening right before our very eyes."

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 01:05

The Cultural Revolution Is In Full Swing

Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness,

It’s no secret that socialism is advancing in the U.S. The latest development in this ominous trend occurred on August 4, when Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive backed by democratic socialists, defeated the establishment-backed congresswoman Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

At the same time, our culture is under constant attack by radicals seeking to transform our national ethos. Despite some claims to the contrary, the cultural upheaval known as “Wokism” is very much alive and well. As John Murawski writes in RealClearInvestigations, the movement in recent years, “from slavery reparations and polyamory to transgender advocacy and anti-colonialism, reveals that this dogma is still percolating through the culture, with some new outbreak almost every week.”

A case in point is a video released by Accuracy in Media from the just-completed American Psychological Association conference, which shows speakers advocating that psychologists use therapeutic approaches to become better “white allies” and advance “antiracist” objectives in their practices, rather than helping patients overcome mental health challenges.

There are myriad examples of woke’s staying power in our nation’s schools, where far-left ethnic studies programs still prevail. In California, the adopted curriculum includes lessons on settler colonialism and the Third World Liberation Front and even uses Black Panther Party newspapers as primary sources. California law encourages districts to develop their own ethnic studies curricula, and many have gone beyond the state model. Some have incorporated materials on the “Land Back” movement, which rejects widely accepted notions of borders and citizenship. These are not fringe supplements, and this content is already in many classrooms.

The teachers’ unions are at the forefront of this fanatical trend. On May Day, the National Education Association issued a toolkit that is essentially an updated version of Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto.

As reported by Defending Education, the NEA toolkit contains typical leftist claptrap, including a laundry list of demands for a day of action that stresses “building the Society we ALL deserve.” The union’s agenda includes “stopping the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption within the Trump administration, taxing the rich, and eliminating ICE,” among other measures.

May Day is just one example of students being used as pawns by radicals. Defending Education maintains a “K-12 Student Walkout and Protest Tracker” that documents K-12 student walkouts and protests from 2022 to the present, all orchestrated by left-wing educators.

The group tracks 48 states and Washington, D.C., and found that between 2022 and 2025, 169 school districts experienced teacher-led student walkouts. But this year, there have already been a whopping 402 instances.

Not surprisingly, U.S. colleges are also major purveyors of indoctrination.

“The binary definition of sex in biology is a recent invention,” writes Princeton University anthropologist Agustín Fuentes in his book, Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary.

In a phone interview with John Murawski, Fuentes claimed that the biological sciences have been undergoing a paradigm shift for several decades and that “many scholars reject the sexual binary model that says females are defined solely by large gametes (eggs) and males by small gametes (sperm).”

Fuentes relies on “Queer Theory” in his work and maintains that it is an important part of contemporary biological thought. He believes that perceived differences in strength and speed between males and females in sports “are to a considerable extent products of culture, not biology.” He adds that if “society held the same expectations and invested equally in male and female sports, the performance gap between the sexes would narrow significantly.”

Then there is the University of Minnesota, which is developing “therapeutic” transgender dolls for children. The project is set to launch this year.

The MyGender Dolls website states that the dolls are “grounded in gender-affirming clinical practices” and will serve as a “therapeutic” resource for clinicians and educators working with children ages 4 to 10.

In addition to interchangeable genitals, the dolls also come with a wide array of customizable accessories, including outfits and hairstyles, to accommodate a diversity of gender presentations. They come in a wide range of skin tones. The dolls are also deliberately given names that could belong to either gender, such as “Sam.”

Scarily, medical schools are not exempt from the woke movement. As I wrote a year ago, the nation’s leading medical schools are controlled by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion extremists who impose wokist nonsense, including “weight inclusivity,” racial justice, and gender ideology on their staff and students through policies, statements, and curricular mandates.

While some argue that DEI is abating, The Daily Caller reports that there has been absolutely no change to this abysmal set of circumstances. Sometimes the names of efforts have simply been altered. For example, the University of Iowa announced in March 2025 that it was shutting down its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity following a directive from the Iowa Board of Regents. However, Do No Harm, which represents physicians, nurses, medical students, patients, and policymakers focused on keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice, found that the DEI office was “still fully up and running,” but under a different name, which amounts to putting lipstick on the proverbial pig.

While U.S. schools were once our country’s most trusted institutions, that era has passed. Rick Hess, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, notes that in 1973, 61 percent of Republicans and 60 percent of Democrats expressed “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in America’s public schools. But 50 years later, those figures have fallen to 43 percent among Democrats and to a mere 14 percent among Republicans.

In higher education, the decline has been even more rapid and dramatic.

In 2010, 75 percent of Americans said college was “very important,” but by 2025, only 35 percent did so.

Ultimately, parents should homeschool if possible; if not, they should send their children to a private school that educates without indoctrinating. Then, instead of sending their teenagers to college, parents should have them attend a good technical school where they can learn a trade, become successful adults, and avoid becoming woke robots.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 23:25

China Dominates The Humanoid Robot Race. Can Trump Close The Gap?

It should surprise no one that new data from Smart Analytics Global, cited by Bloomberg, shows that Chinese humanoid robot makers accounted for a staggering 97% of global shipments in the first half of 2026.

The figures come as the Trump administration increasingly recognizes that humanoids will be critical to the emerging physical AI era, creating an urgent need to build out America's robot supply chain, including motors, actuators, sensors, batteries, and AI models.

via Barclays.

Smart Analytics Global said global humanoid shipments tripled to 19,100 units in the first half from 5,100 a year earlier. The research firm expects deliveries to reach roughly 60,000 this year and climb to 500,000 by 2030.

The estimates are similar to those from major institutional research desks, including UBS, whose most bullish forecast projects nearly 400,000 global deliveries by the end of the decade.

via UBS. 

Our latest notes dissecting the humanoid robot value chain and examining how to profit from the key companies that manufacture critical components, such as motors and actuators, find that many of these companies are based in Asia, more specifically in China.

• Physical AI Faces One Critical Chokepoint, And Here's How To Profit
• Digging Deeper Inside Physical AI's Hardware Stack Powering Humanoids

China's dominance on humanoids reflects years of policy support and government funding aimed at accelerating robotics, drones, electric vehicles, and much more. The country's progress was on display at the World AI Conference in Shanghai last month, where dozens of companies demonstrated rapid advances in dexterity, speed, and autonomous capabilities. 

The US recently banned imports of new Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots, as well as certain components, citing national security concerns and cybersecurity risks to AI infrastructure. 

The Trump administration has yet to release a standalone executive order specifically aimed at supercharging the domestic humanoid robotics industry, but we expect that could be coming.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 23:00

Trump: US Controls Hormuz Strait, 'I Think We Will Keep It' - Confirms Economic Siege Strategy Summary

• Trump claims "total control" of Hormuz, signals strategy of continued economic pressure.
• Iran declares "victory" & says it can sustain the conflict & outlast.
• Iran shifts to a "survival economy" to withstand sanctions, Washington's economic warfare, naval blockade.
• Peace talks basically not happening, with Pakistan reporting "absolutely no progress."
• Tehran: Hormuz remains closed until Washington accepts all conditions.

//--> //--> //--> US-Iran 60 day negotiation period extended?
Yes 23% · No 78%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

*  *  *

Trump Claims 'Total Control' of Hormuz

In his latest Wednesday Truth Social post, Trump issues a familiar refrain (one that will likely be on repeat up to the November midterms), claiming that the USA has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz and "I think we will keep it". It's also yet more confirmation that he's opting for economic siege warfare as the US military campaign is on halt. He also did his bizarre "Praise be to Allah!" sign off...

//--> //--> //--> US-Iran 60 day negotiation period extended?
Yes 23% · No 78%
View full market & trade on Polymarket Iran's Military Leadership: 'Victory is on Our Side'

It has become beyond obvious that there is no broader peace process and that things are in a stalemated situation amid what's broadly seen as a Washington retreat from military confrontation, leaving Iran to press its own vision of management over the Strait of Hormuz with Oman.

While President Trump has settled into a waiting game which once again bets on sanctions and economic warfare to eventually force Tehran to bend, Iranian military leaders are declaring that "victory is on our side".

Prior file image via Asia Sentinel Iran Becomes 'Survival Economy'

The Wall Street Journal has noted that the Islamic Republic has entered a 'survival economy' with the country’s rulers "taking time-tested steps to keep their chronically battered economy functioning just enough to resist a drawn-out campaign."

There's no doubt that infrastructure along with various key industries and the Iranian currency has been severely tested and battered, but the WSJ outlines strategies of this survival mode as follows:

Tehran is rationing scarce goods, limiting access to foreign currency, slashing investment and shifting more of the burden onto households while preserving strategic imports and the essential machinery of the state, analysts say. The result will be a deepening economic malaise that leads to rising poverty and dysfunction, but also more room for Iran’s leaders to stall talks with the U.S.

That leaves Trump’s strategy resting on a risky assumption that Iran will crack before Washington does. Mediators have warned their U.S. counterparts that Iran has been living under sanctions for years and betting that Tehran will compromise because of economic pressure won’t likely yield results. Instead, Iran will likely continue to escalate attacks to raise the price for Washington and its allies.

Such a 'risky assumption' was on display from even the very start of Operation Epic Fury nearly six months ago and nothing has fundamentally changed in terms of the Iranian system 'cracking'. Within merely the first two weeks of war back in early March, we highlighted some of Washington's persisting false assumptions in: Escalation Trap: Misreading Iran's Internal Power Dynamics.

Stalled Talks, Maximum Conditions

Meanwhile, Gulf and regional mediators are still clinging to hope that some form of ceasefire can limp along and be put back in full force, also with efforts to get the US and Iran talking again. As a Wednesday, per Bloomberg:

Pakistan said the 60-day deadline for a US-Iran MoU may be extended, but the larger peace process has stalled. Earlier, Donald Trump said the US "totally" controls the Strait of Hormuz. Oil wavered. 

Neither of these things are true - at this point the MoU is dead with Iran weeks ago having already pulled out while declaring in null. Also, if the US military 'totally' controlled the strait then there would be no crisis that must be 'resolved' and global oil would be transiting at full tilt again.

🇮🇷 “Certainly, victory is on our side.”

In an interview with PBS, senior IRGC adviser Mohammad Reza Naqdi said Iran has thwarted Washington’s objectives, learned how to fight the U.S. military and may prolong the war until the next American presidency to impose sustained costs… pic.twitter.com/K5cXNPRgQL

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 12, 2026

The latest from Reuters further observes that "The US and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping as prospects for ending the Iran war appeared to dim, with Tehran saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless Washington accepts its conditions."

'Absolutely No Progress'

Mohsen Rezaee, the newly appointed head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has informed China’s ambassador to Tehran, Cong Peiwu: "As long as America does not change its behaviour and does not accept Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened."

But so far on Wednesday there's been an uneasy quiet, so at least the bombs have fallen silent. But on Wednesday Reuters while citing mediators has painted a grim picture: "There has been absolutely no progress on this issue," the [Pakistani government] source added...

"There is no talk of an extension because, from Iran’s perspective, there is ​no period that began and therefore nothing to extend. The ​United States violated the interim agreement 48 hours after it was reached and ‌withdrew ⁠from it a few days later," the source told Reuters.

In the agreement, the 60-day period refers to an extendable timeframe within which Iran and the U.S. were expected to reach a final deal ​limiting Tehran's nuclear ​program and lifting ⁠U.S. sanctions.

"One of the issues that is being discussed via mediators is the U.S. returning to the ⁠interim ​agreement and defining a timeframe for implementing ​the commitments. There has been absolutely no progress on this issue," the source added."https://t.co/pqc9L848BC

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) August 12, 2026 Overnight Developments

• US President Trump said they totally control the Strait of Hormuz, while he said regarding the flight change during the return trip from Turkey in early July that he was following what the Secret Service said and the plane he flew on was at greater risk. Furthermore, Trump said that he doesn't trust Iran.
• Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it continues to activate direct and indirect diplomatic channels between the US and Iran and that they are working to bring both sides to the negotiating table in Islamabad. The Ministry added that they remain optimistic and not discouraged by escalations. Furthermore, the Ministry added that with the 60-day MoU deadline approaching, the deadline can be extended.
• Pakistani Interior Minister is said to have given an important message to Iran.
• Iranian Army official said Iran intends to maintain control and oversight of the Strait of Hormuz as a key source of its geopolitical power, Mehr News reported.
• Iran's IRGC said that if a threat against Iran occurs again, "hundreds of thousands of miles of energy transmission lines, thousands of power plants, all US and non-US systems, and even global infrastructure connected to the Internet are at risk," Sepah reported.
• Japanese PM Takaichi held a phone call with the Iranian President, on de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East and the security of maritime transit, Kyodo reported, citing sources.
• Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister said there has been no direct or indirect negotiations with the Houthis, Al ArabyTV reported.
• Israel conducted airstrikes in southern Lebanon, according to IRIB.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 22:45

Libya Reels From Assassination, Oil Strikes & Central Bank Turmoil

Via Middle East Eye

Libya was plunged into fresh turmoil this week after a car bomb killed eastern military intelligence chief Fawzi al-Mansouri in Benghazi, drone attacks struck the country’s largest operational oil refinery and the central bank governor resigned from his post.

Mansouri, the military intelligence chief for forces controlling eastern Libya, was leaving a mosque on Monday night when an explosive device attached to his vehicle detonated, the Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Tuesday.

AFP: a fire at the Zawiya refinery, Libya’s second-largest oil refinery, after a storage tank was attacked by unknown perpetrators in Al-Zawiyah on 11 August 2026 

Khaled Haftar, the son of the LNA renegade commander Khalifa Haftar who controls eastern Libya, said authorities had opened an investigation, adding that "indicators point to a despicable terrorist tactic".

"Terrorism is a project targeting the entire region, not just Libya," the statement added.

While no group has taken responsibility for the attack, Hamish Kinnear, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, told Middle East Eye that "it is a reminder that security in eastern Libya remains fragile despite the domination of Khalifa Haftar’s LNA".

The killing also challenges the Haftar family’s efforts to present eastern Libya as stable after years of conflict. The LNA said it would "not cease fighting terrorism and will continue our struggle for the stability and security of Libya, as well as for the unification of its institutions".

The assassination came as emergency crews fought a major fire at the Zawiya oil refinery, west of Tripoli, following a drone attack on Monday evening. It was the third strike on the facility in two days.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation said a drone directly struck a tank holding about 4.5 million liters of fuel. The resulting fire caused the tank to collapse and prompted the company to warn that further attacks could force it to suspend operations.

Emergency services reported no serious injuries, although medics treated several people for smoke inhalation. Zawiya is Libya’s largest operational refinery and can process 120,000 barrels of oil per day.

“No group has claimed responsibility for the drone strikes, but they came amid an armed confrontation between rival militias in Zawiya and are likely intended as pressure on the Government of National Unity headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibah,” Kinnear said.

The turmoil deepened after a letter attributed to Central Bank of Libya Governor Naji Issa circulated widely on social media and local news outlets.

Addressed to the heads of the House of Representatives and High State Council, the letter said Issa would not remain in his post. He declined to explain his decision, citing the "sensitivity" of the reasons.

"Drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Zawiya, a car bomb assassination in Benghazi and the resignation of one of Libya’s top officials [in a space of 24 hours] underline how quickly Libya’s fragile political and security situation can deteriorate," said Kinnear.

🛢️ 🇱🇾 Libya Declares Maximum Emergency After Third Drone Strike Hits Largest Functioning Refinery

🔸Libya’s National Oil Corporation declared a “maximum state of emergency” around the Zawiya refinery west of Tripoli after three drone attacks in roughly 48 hours, Anadolu… pic.twitter.com/0ihJH6eAKe

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 11, 2026

Post-Gaddafi Libya remains divided between the internationally recognized government in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by Haftar.

The hydrocarbon-rich country produces more than 1.3 million barrels of oil per day but continues to suffer prolonged electricity cuts. Blackouts have triggered protests in Tripoli, Zawiya, Misrata and other cities, where demonstrators have demanded reliable power and called for Dbeibah to resign.

"Libya’s energy infrastructure often becomes the target in these confrontations, as it is the easiest means by which pressure can be placed on political leaders and concessions demanded," Kinnear said.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 22:35

Ann Arbor Is The 'Most Educated' City In America

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, ranks the most educated U.S. cities in 2026, highlighting metropolitan areas with high levels of educational attainment and strong local education systems.

The data for this visualization comes from WalletHub. Cities were ranked using a weighted composite score based on educational attainment (80%) and education quality and equality (20%).

College Towns Continue to Lead

Ann Arbor, Michigan, ranks first with an overall score of 94.48, driven by exceptionally high educational attainment.

Rank Most Educated Cities State Total Score (0-100) 1 Ann Arbor MI 94.48 2 Durham NC 85.00 3 San Jose CA 82.67 4 Washington DC 81.93 5 Madison WI 79.62 6 San Francisco CA 78.92 7 Raleigh NC 77.88 8 Boston MA 77.78 9 Austin TX 76.46 10 Seattle WA 75.21 11 Portland ME 71.85 12 Denver CO 71.37 13 Colorado Springs CO 69.94 14 Bridgeport CT 69.71 15 Provo UT 69.55 16 Portland OR 67.83 17 Huntsville AL 67.69 18 Minneapolis MN 66.72 19 Baltimore MD 66.56 20 Albany NY 66.49 21 Trenton NJ 66.02 22 San Diego CA 65.78 23 Tallahassee FL 65.75 24 Lexington KY 65.44 25 Asheville NC 64.45 26 Atlanta GA 64.03 27 Charleston SC 63.52 28 New Haven CT 62.75 29 Hartford CT 62.63 30 New York NY 62.48

More than 96% of adults in Ann Arbor have earned at least a high school diploma. The presence of the University of Michigan also contributes to the area’s highly educated population.

Durham, North Carolina, ranks second, reflecting the influence of Duke University and the broader Research Triangle.

Madison, Wisconsin, also earns a top-five finish, supported by the University of Wisconsin and a workforce anchored by government, health care, and research.

Technology Hubs Also Rank Highly

Several of the country’s leading technology centers rank among its most educated cities.

San Jose places third, followed by San Francisco in sixth and Seattle in 10th, reflecting the concentration of highly skilled workers in Silicon Valley and the Pacific Northwest.

Austin ranks ninth as its growing technology sector continues to attract graduates and professionals from across the country.

Washington, D.C., places fourth, supported by a highly educated workforce across government, consulting, law, and policy organizations.

The East Coast Has a Strong Presence

Nearly half of the top 30 cities are located on the East Coast, reflecting the region’s dense network of universities, research institutions, and knowledge-based industries.

Boston, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Albany, Trenton, Baltimore, and New York all make the list.

Many of these metropolitan areas benefit from long-term investment in higher education and proximity to major employers in finance, health care, biotechnology, and government.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Which U.S. States Depend Most on Manufacturing? on Voronoi.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 22:10

Common Blood Pressure Drug Recalled Nationwide, FDA Says

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation recalled some heart failure and high blood pressure medication due to potency issues, according to the Food and Drug Administration's website.

Hottie pharmacist at a Florida pharmacy, in this file photo. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Would. 

The recall affects one lot of Diovan, Novartis' valsartan brand, according to a report issued last week. The lot includes 160-milligram tablets in 90-count bottles, with the lot number AV5913C, and an expiration date of June 2027.

The drug is prescription-only and manufactured by North Carolina-based Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC and distributed by Novartis, a multinational pharmaceutical company that is one of the largest in the world.

According to the FDA notice, the reason for the recall is due to "failed dissolution specifications," meaning that the pills may not dissolve correctly in the body when ingested.

The recall was initiated on Aug. 4, while the FDA later classified the recall as Class II, which it describes as "a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote."

The notice did not say how many bottles of the medication were impacted but added that it is a nationwide recall.

The Mayo Clinic says that valsartan is a type of angiotensin II receptor blocker, which stops "a substance in the body that causes blood vessels to tighten."

It can be used by itself or together with other medicines to treat high blood pressure, heart failure, and left ventricular failure following a heart attack.

Valsartan is commonly prescribed, according to drug database ClinCalc, with around 10.9 million patients taking the medication in 2024.

In 2018, in a separate instance, global health agencies and the FDA launched significant recalls of valsartan after it was linked to contamination produced by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals, located in Linhai, China. The medications were discovered to have high levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine, which can be carcinogenic.

Other Heart Drug Recalls

Earlier this month, India-based drug manufacturer Alkem Laboratories Ltd. said it was recalling more than 5,600 packages of a heart and blood-thinning medication, dabigatran etexilate, according to an FDA notice.

The recall was due to "failed impurity/degradation specification" in a tested batch of the drug, according to the notice.

Amlodipine and olmesartan medoxomil tablets - in 10 mg and 20 mg doses, respectively - are being recalled nationwide, according to a separate FDA notice in July.

The product was manufactured by Alkem Laboratories Ltd. and distributed by New Jersey-based Ascend Laboratories LLC, according to the report, which added that 6,192 bottles are affected by the action.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 21:45

Experts Question Why Polls Were So Wrong In The Wisconsin Primary

Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong entered primary day as the prohibitive favorite to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for Wisconsin governor.

Yet, she wound up narrowly losing to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley instead.

Crowley beat Hong by 0.4 percentage points, a margin of about 3,000 votes, in a race that polling had shown Hong leading by about 20 points for weeks.

Despite the slim margin, Hong ultimately conceded the race, and now Crowley will face Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany in November.

The gap between expectation and outcome sent pollsters, analysts, and commentators searching for an explanation, and their answers vary.

Marquette Law School polled the race twice, catching it at two different stages of collapse. The first, taken July 8-16 while Crowley sat out, had Hong at 26%, Barnes at 15%, and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez at 11%. Rodriguez dropped out the next day. Crowley climbed back in July 18, and by the time Marquette polled again July 22-27, Hong had jumped to 38%, Barnes had ticked up to 16%, and Crowley had 7%. Barnes quit three days after that.

Both polls had small samples, margins of error above four points, and undecided voters in the 30s and 40s. Neither one could have caught what came next. Hong's 2021 posts calling for canceling Thanksgiving resurfaced in early August. She defended the posts on CNN, then reversed course on Politico, calling Thanksgiving her favorite holiday. The reversal revived old criticism of her past comments on her own "proximity to whiteness."

By August 3-6, when State Navigate polled a settled field, Hong still led, 44% to Crowley's 22%, with Sen. Kelda Roys at 11%. Kalshi had her as a 95.5% favorite as late as the Monday before the primary. By Tuesday afternoon, that number had fallen to 58%. Hong finished at 39.4%, close to what the late polls predicted. Crowley was the miss. The polls undercounted him by a wide margin. Roys took 7.5%, and former state official Joel Brennan took 4.7%, enough combined that their absence could have changed who won.

Pollster Nate Silver posted his confusion Tuesday night on X. 

"Hong might come back, but wtf is up with these primary polls?" he wrote.

Silver followed up, noting that many modern polls function as statistical models rather than raw snapshots, writing that "primaries are very hard to model from first principles, whereas general elections are relatively easy given very high partisanship and usually predictable demographic relationships."

Political scientist Larry Sabato pointed to a similar failure in Michigan days earlier, where Democratic Socialist Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in the Senate primary. Sabato wrote, "What amazes me is that just a few days ago, the same polling train wreck happened in Michigan. Few learned anything."

Pollster Frank Luntz said he agreed with Sabato's assessment.

CNN's Harry Enten suggested pollsters oversampled young progressive voters, inflating apparent support for socialist-aligned candidates in both states. 

“When you kind of look at the polling, you go, ‘Hey, wait a minute, maybe these polls had too many younger folks in them.’ And I think that speaks to something larger potentially, which is all these pollings, which are sewing progressivism on the left, the far left rising, seeing Democratic socialism, especially in the case of Wisconsin, rising, you got to look at these results and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute. Maybe, Johnny, maybe these polls are overestimating how much that Democratic socialism is rising within the Democratic Party,’ because in two key statewide races in a row, what we've seen is the lefties being vastly overestimated. And in the case of Wisconsin, the Democratic socialists being vastly overestimated by 20 points.”

The polls may have given Francesca Hong a coronation, but Wisconsin voters had other plans.

David Crowley’s comeback underscores the cost of allowing fashionable ideology, activist energy, and faulty assumptions to replace a serious reading of the electorate, and once again, the polling industry has egg on its face.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 21:20

Shocked! ICE To Equip Officers With Gloves That Can Deliver Electric Zaps

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that can deliver electric shocks for its agents, according to a notice published by the Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 10.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk outside the Ventura County Government Center in Ventura, Calif., on July 27, 2026. Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images

The devices, known as CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E, or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, are expected to be delivered by March 31, 2027, according to the notice.

The notice refers to the gloves as "conductive distraction and de-escalation" devices, which ICE seeks to buy for Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations officers and agents.

The device manufacturer, Compliant Technologies, states on its website that the devices were designed "to supplement existing tools for law enforcement, corrections, security, EMS [Emergency Medical Services] and the military."

The devices must be applied directly to someone's skin and are ineffective through clothing or hair, according to the user manual. No more than two gloves should be used at a time, with each application lasting not more than 15 seconds, it states.

Compliant Technologies said the gloves should not be used to respond to "verbal defiance or belligerence," as punishment or for torture. The company also warned against using them on children, elderly people, pregnant women, or people with disabilities.

The manual also recommends that the gloves be deployed as necessary to "accomplish lawful objectives within the scope of the agency's policies" when a suspect becomes violent to the point of endangering the officer or the public.

Officers must be trained and certified to use the gloves, with recertification required every two years, according to the manual.

The Epoch Times reached out to both the Department of Homeland Security and Compliant Technologies for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director for policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, expressed doubt that ICE officers would use the devices appropriately and questioned why the devices would be necessary for civil immigration enforcement.

"ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do," she said. "Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public."

Meanwhile, acting ICE Director David Venturella announced on Aug. 8 that federal agents will be equipped with body-worn cameras by the end of the month in a move to increase "transparency and accountability."

The cameras are a key measure that congressional Democrats demanded during a months-long funding dispute earlier this year over the funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Democratic lawmakers in Congress have demanded that ICE be reformed following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal agents during operations in Minnesota earlier this year.

Troy Myers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 20:55

Mamdani's Socialist Utopia Collides With Reality As Manhattan Rents Hit Record

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani built his political campaign by relentlessly attacking America and, most importantly, portraying capitalism as the root cause of nearly every social problem, from affordability pressures to soaring rents.

Voters were sold the idea that his administration could deliver an instant utopian transformation built on free bus rides, government-run grocery stores, and cheap housing.

However, like every Marxist before him, Mamdani's vision of utopia is not grounded in economic reality. The dream pitched to millions across the metropolitan area is now colliding with market reality: a continuing nightmare for renters. Even with Mamdani's rent freeze and threat of a pied-à-terre tax, rents are still rising.

Delving into the granular data, a report from the New York Post, citing data from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, shows that Manhattan's average monthly rent jumped to a record $6,655 in July, up 10% from a year earlier.

The median rent reached $5,295, a 6% increase from the same month one year ago, according to the data. Average rents rose across every apartment category, including 8% for studios to $4,088, 7% for one-bedroom apartments to $5,486 and 13% for two-bedroom apartments to $8,054. Three-bedroom apartments averaged $12,228, up 12%.

NYC's rental vacancy rate has fallen to 1.49%, the lowest since 1968 and well below the 5% threshold typically associated with a landlord's market. Separately, state data show that roughly 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments sat vacant in 2025

A severe housing shortage, elevated mortgage rates, and new rental regulations have intensified competition for available apartments. Let's not forget that a recent Center for Migration Studies report showed that more than 500,000 illegal aliens live in NYC.

Via Pew Research 

Yet the socialists in City Hall have no interest in deporting illegal aliens - that because that's their imported voter bloc. These illegals add pressure to the housing supply and force rental prices higher. Even the Dallas Federal Reserve recently confirmed that the illegal alien invasion under the Biden-Harris regime led to pressure on rents and housing prices on a national level. 

To begin the week, a New York judge temporarily halted Mamdani's socialist tax experiment on second homes. The far-left in City Hall also published a controversial list doxing more than 900,000 homeowners, exposing them to targeting by radical activists, including Luigi-worshipping far-left activists. Maybe the socialists' game is not affordability but more about seizing private property.

President Trump commented on Truth Social yesterday about Mamdani's dangerous tax "experiment" before it "destroys what was once a great City and State." He said the federal government is looking for ways to challenge the tax scheme. 

Related:

• Rich-Kid Mamdani Ally Wants To "Abolish Rent"; Could Hawley Reform Bill Stop College Indoctrination?

Beyond tax schemes, doxing wealthy, and attempted rent freezes, Mamdani and the radical left are trying to build more housing, but that takes time, something they do not have if they hope to prove that their utopian vision works. These policies may work in the short run if implemented, but over the long term, such fundamentally flawed policies have repeatedly failed around the world. 

Meanwhile...

Reality Bites: Socialist NYC Mayor Mamdani Turns To Capitalist Bankers For Help https://t.co/C18ePozoCI

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 7, 2026

Read: South America Just Rejected Socialism. So Why Is North America Buying It?

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 20:30

The Return Of Economic Gaslighting

Authored by Connor O'Keefe via The Mises Institute,

Around two and a half years ago, as the Biden administration was entering what we now know was its final year, the then-president’s re-election campaign was growing frustrated.

According to nearly all the big economic indicators and aggregates, the economy was doing quite well, especially considering the historic shutdown governments had forced on the global economy a few years before.

However, at the same time, the American public as a whole felt very negatively about that same economy. And that negativity was persistent.

That diversion appeared to genuinely baffle some media figures and political strategists who seemed to believe everything you could ever need to know about the health of the economy could be gleaned entirely from GDP and the unemployment rate. But, more urgently, it forced the president’s team to make a decision.

On one hand, they could find some politically useful scapegoat for the public’s economic discomfort and run a campaign on addressing it. That would allow them to meet voters where they were, but it would force them to tone down their aggressive celebrations of all the nominally strong economic data drops.

On the other hand, they could continue to celebrate the “strong” economy and give themselves credit for rescuing the country from the dark days of covid with “daring” legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Acts.

Clearly, the team of presumably seasoned political strategists on Biden and later Harris’ campaign chose to pursue the latter. It went terribly.

In one of the most unsurprising developments in modern American politics, it turned out that people who were struggling to navigate the aftermath of the government’s destructive economic shutdowns and keep up with rising prices did not like being told by establishment-approved economic “experts” that they were essentially stupid if they didn’t understand how excellent the economy actually was.

And the establishment really did try. The media loudly credited Biden and the big spending bills he helped move through Congress whenever a good jobs report came out and then all but ignored the later revisions that revealed virtually all that job growth wasn’t real. Establishment-friendly economists kept the public laser-focused on GDP as the one and only indicator of the economy’s strength while leaving out how much government spending was propping the number up. And an effort was made to falsely frame all negative economic sentiment as a dishonest ploy by Biden’s political opponents to tank the president’s re-election bid.

None of it worked. The majority of the American public, including a sufficient number of independent voters, could tell that something was deeply wrong with the American economy. And that, worse than merely doing nothing about it, the people in power were trying to gaslight them into thinking everything was fine.

Trump won, in large part, because he focused on confronting this mounting “affordability crisis” as it was quickly coming to be called. But now, as the midterms approach and he and his party are the ones in charge, the Republicans are faced with the exact same choice the Democrats had been faced with before 2024. And, notably, they have decided to adopt the same strategy that helped torpedo the Democrats last time around.

That was made very clear on social media last week after an X post about the price of burritos ignited a firestorm on the right. Trump-aligned figures lambasted the younger generations especially for continuing to espouse the very sentiment that helped propel Trump back to the White House. Again, the disaffected public was told to shut up, accept what the president was saying about how this was the strongest economy ever, continue to vote Republican, and scrounge together cheaper food if they didn’t like how much burritos cost nowadays.

The figures and specific talking points may differ, but the formula remains the same.

First, voters can tell that the economy is not only weaker than the official metrics are letting on, but that, somehow, it is rigged against them.

They then vote for the party or candidates who are closest to echoing this sentiment and who promise to make sweeping changes in the name of addressing this economic pain.

Then, when that sense that something in the economy is off persists after those politicians get into office, anyone who points that out is called either a liar, lazy, or bad at managing their money by the very people who they had once voted for and supported.

This kind of cyclical economic gaslighting is infuriating. But it isn’t surprising.

The cause of this so-called affordability crisis is not a mystery. It is, primarily, the result of the government inflating the money supply. When the Federal Reserve creates new money out of thin air to buy financial assets, the purchasing power of all dollars goes down—something we all experience as a general rise in prices. But it does not happen instantaneously across the whole economy. The people who get their hands on the new dollars first get to use that new money to buy things at old prices. And, on the other side of the spectrum, the people who get the new money last have to first pay higher prices before they ever get access to the new money that helped bid those prices up.

This is called the Cantillon effect, and it is, in every way, a forced wealth transfer from the bulk of the population to the small, typically well-connected group who gets the money first. However, what makes this form of redistribution especially damaging is that, even though economic theory is very clear that it is inevitable with the kinds of monetary operations the Fed is doing, it is not easy to identify. There is evidence if you know where to look and what to look for. But for most everyday people, this institutionalized theft is only ever experienced as this vague sense that things are getting less affordable.

That difficulty in detecting the true cause of this impoverishing policy gives the monetary authorities and all the people in government and well-connected industries who benefit from it a lot more room to operate than they typically get with more visible measures of taking our wealth, like taxes and government borrowing.

So money printing has become one of the primary ways the political class both transfers our wealth to themselves and, because the Fed also loans many of the dollars it creates directly to the Treasury Department, funds their extremely expensive government programs. That’s been true for decades. But the levels of theft through money printing hit historic levels during the pandemic. The Fed printed trillions of new dollars and injected most of them straight into the economy.

That is the reason we’re dealing with this so-called “affordability crisis” and, further, why there is such a visceral sense among the public that something is deeply wrong with the economy. That, somehow, they’re being ripped off. And they are right.

However, this isn’t ever talked about in the establishment media or genuinely taken on by politicians in either party because solving the problems caused by the Fed’s money printing is not in the interest of those in power. What is in their interest is using the money spigot for their own ends while obfuscating the issue in public and redirecting people’s righteous anger towards some useful scapegoat.

The Trump administration is facing no pressure to address the true cause of this problem and—with the expensive war they launched and their complete disinterest in doing anything but increasing federal spending—every reason to keep it going.

That puts them in a hard electoral position, but the truth is, with the massive increase in social spending most democrats are calling for, the other party will—once again—be in the same boat once they win back some power.

In other words, unless and until people wake up to the political class’s scheme or, at least, grow used to the jump in prices caused by the government’s historic monetary expansion during covid, the gaslighting will continue.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 20:05

Nearly Half Of NYC Homeless Deaths Due To Drugs Or Alcohol: Study

Nearly half of all deaths among New York City's homeless population in the most recent fiscal year were connected to drug use or alcohol abuse, according to a new city report.

A homeless man sits in the cold in Manhattan on Dec. 27. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Of the 634 people experiencing homelessness who died between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, 285 lost their lives to drug addiction, overdoses, or alcoholism. The figures come from the annual mortality report jointly issued by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Social Services/Homeless Services.

Drug-related causes alone accounted for 251 deaths, or 40 percent of the total - still the leading cause of death among this population. Alcohol misuse or dependence contributed another 34 deaths (5 percent). Together, substance-related deaths made up roughly 45 percent of the total, the NY Post reports.

The report covers deaths that occurred in temporary shelters, on the streets, in the subway system, in abandoned buildings, and in other locations. Fifty-two percent of those who died were classified as unsheltered; 48 percent were living in a homeless facility at the time of death. Most (58 percent) died in a hospital. Among unsheltered individuals, 22 percent died outdoors.

Other leading causes of death included heart disease (78 deaths, 12 percent), accidents excluding drug overdoses (60 deaths, 9 percent), and cancer (23 deaths, 4 percent). Additional figures included 18 suicides, 15 deaths from hypothermia or cold exposure, 15 subway-related accidents, 14 motor-vehicle accidents, and 11 homicides. A small number of deaths involved toxic substances, heat exposure, or falls. In ten cases, the manner of death could not be determined.

The overall number of deaths declined nearly 18 percent from the previous year, when 770 people experiencing homelessness died. Drug-related deaths specifically fell 28 percent, from 348 in fiscal year 2024 to 251 in fiscal year 2025. Despite the drop, substance use remained the dominant cause of mortality, consistent with both citywide and national patterns.

City officials noted that the true toll is likely higher. Thousands of migrants housed in temporary facilities operated by other agencies during the border crisis were not fully included in the data-matching process, meaning some deaths may have gone uncounted as homeless fatalities.

The report is the 20th in the annual series required by law. Authors said the data help identify pressing health risks for a highly vulnerable population that faces elevated rates of poorly controlled physical and mental health conditions, compounded by poverty, housing instability, and other social stressors.

As of early August 2026, the city's shelter system housed roughly 83,200 people - down from a peak above 100,000 during the height of the migrant influx. The city has extended a $1.86 billion contract to continue using commercial hotels as emergency shelter for the next three years.

A man rests against a wall appearing to be under the influence of drugs on a street in the South Bronx on June 7 in New York City. Spencer Platt / Getty Images file Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 19:40

White House Ends TikTok Ban On Government Devices

Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times,

The White House has allowed Executive Branch employees to use TikTok on their government devices.

The Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 10 issued a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies, stating that “TikTok may be used on government devices.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to TikTok for comment.

This comes after the Department of Justice issued a memorandum on July 17 that said federal employees can again use TikTok on their government devices.

The app was banned in 2022 over national security concerns surrounding TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

The U.S. version of the app is operated by the TikTok U.S. Data Security Joint Venture, whose majority ownership consists of American investors.

It has changed the algorithm and cybersecurity measures that were created by the firm.

The joint venture’s managing investors are Oracle, MGX, and Silver Lake, owning a total of 45 percent of its shares.

“Employees of Executive Branch agencies may download TikTok onto their official devices, subject to the agency’s discretion and consistent with all applicable workplace policies,” the DOJ said in its memorandum.

According to the DOJ, the TikTok U.S. Data Security Joint Venture uses third-party cybersecurity experts to monitor and certify privacy while detecting any vulnerabilities.

“These safeguards would appear to make TikTok USDS just as data-secure as any other social networking service, if not more so,” the DOJ said.

“We conclude that, as a matter of statutory interpretation, the version of TikTok currently available for download in the United States [no longer falls] within that prohibited category of applications.”

The DOJ said federal agencies can independently decide whether to ban TikTok from government devices.

The memo noted that the federal government-TikTok relationship has been strained since at least 2020.

In 2022, Congress passed the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, instructing the Office of Management and Budget to provide guidelines for agencies to delete TikTok or any other app developed by ByteDance from government devices.

In 2024, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, making it illegal for any entity to distribute, maintain, or update any foreign-adversary-controlled application.

During his first day in office, President Donald Trump postponed the implementation of the ban. He has since again delayed it.

Following the DOJ memo, the Treasury, Transportation, and Health and Human Services Departments set up TikTok accounts. Last year, the White House created a TikTok account.

TikTok is banned on congressional devices in the House and Senate.

It’s also prohibited on state government devices in states such as Texas and Virginia.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 19:15

New Orleans Becomes First Major U.S. City To Let AI Answer 911

New Orleans is testing just how much Americans are willing to trust artificial intelligence when the stakes are considerably higher than writing an email or ordering dinner, according to the New York Post.

The city has begun allowing an AI system to field certain 911 calls, apparently making it the first major U.S. municipality to put a bot directly between emergency callers and human operators.

The idea is largely about volume. New Orleans' emergency communications center receives more than 1,000 calls on a typical day, and officials believe automation can clear some of the clutter while dispatchers concentrate on genuine emergencies.

The technology isn't supposed to take over the entire 911 operation. Instead, it can deal with situations that appear redundant or relatively routine when human operators are tied up. A flood of calls about the same already-reported car accident, for example, could potentially be filtered through the automated system rather than occupying multiple dispatchers.

The Post writes that city officials insist humans remain at the center of the operation. But skeptics say emergency calls are precisely the kind of messy, unpredictable interactions computers may struggle to interpret.

People dialing 911 aren't reading from scripts. They may be terrified, whispering, intoxicated, injured, confused or speaking through heavy background noise. In some situations, callers intentionally conceal what's happening because another person is nearby.

One online critic who identified himself as a former 911 dispatcher called the experiment “the worst idea you could possibly think of,” arguing that experienced operators routinely listen for clues beyond the caller's literal words.

That concern becomes more significant given the continuing reliability problems surrounding conversational AI. Voice models can confidently produce incorrect information, while cybersecurity researchers have shown that specially constructed audio can sometimes manipulate AI systems into behaving in unintended ways.

New Orleans isn't alone in bringing algorithms into emergency services. Atlanta uses AI technology to assist operators in locating callers, while Seattle has used automated tools to help sort medical calls by urgency. The distinction is that New Orleans appears to be going further by allowing AI to actually interact with some people dialing 911.

Officials believe safeguards, human supervision and strict limits on when the system is activated can make the technology useful without handing emergency response over to a machine.

It's an ambitious experiment, although perhaps an uncomfortable one: the next time somebody calls 911 in New Orleans, the first voice answering may not belong to a person at all.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 18:50

Illegal Immigrant Pleads Guilty To Purchasing 91 Firearms

Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times,

An illegal immigrant from Mexico has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to purchasing 91 firearms and 40,000 rounds of ammunition.

A sign displaying "No firearms in Mexico" its outside a border entry point in Naco, Ariz., on March 5, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon announced on Aug. 10 that Samuel Rodrigo Melo Santos pleaded guilty to being an alien in possession of a firearm and making false statements in the acquisition of a firearm.

Authorities said Melo Santos illegally entered the United States through Arizona in May 2024 but was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol and deported to Mexico.

He later illegally re-entered at an unknown date and location.

Between May 2024 and July 2025, Melo Santos purchased 91 firearms for $56,448, along with 40,000 rounds of ammunition, for illegal resale, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said one of the firearms was later recovered in Mexico.

"This criminal illegal alien from Mexico pleaded guilty to buying more than 90 guns and 40,000 rounds of ammunition so he could illegally resell them," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement.

"Once his sentence is complete, [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will remove him from our country."

Melo Santos was arrested by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) on Dec. 16, 2025, before being transferred to U.S. Marshals Service custody.

The investigation was led by ATF, with assistance from ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Harper is prosecuting the case.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2,227 seizures involving firearms and ammunition have occurred so far in 2026. The agency reported 2,997 such seizures in 2025 and 4,932 in 2024.

In 2026, CBP has intercepted 1,447 handguns and 688 explosives. In 2025, the agency took 2,487 handguns and 473 explosives, compared with 2,299 handguns and 1,816 explosives in 2024.

In February, ATF reported that since Jan. 20, 2025, it had seized 36,277 crime guns and more than 2.3 million rounds of ammunition from prohibited individuals, including gang members and suppliers of transnational criminal organizations.

More than 4,300 of the seized firearms were bound for Mexico for alleged use by violent drug cartels and gangs.

Nearly 650,000 rounds of ammunition were also bound for Mexico - an average of more than 1,600 rounds per day, according to ATF.

Tyler Durden Wed, 08/12/2026 - 18:25