Wheat Futures Volatile As Black Sea Crisis And Hormuz Chokepoint Spark Concerns

Chicago wheat futures are coiling for a breakout (one way or another) as ongoing Russia-Ukraine attacks on Black Sea grain infrastructure and bulk carriers threaten exports from one of the world's most important breadbaskets.

Most-active Chicago wheat has been choppy in the last few days...

Hard red winter wheat gained as much as 2.7% to $7.505 a bushel.

Soft Red Winter wheat futures are poised for a much larger breakout if prices sustain a move above $7 a bushel.

Bloomberg noted Monday that Turkey temporarily suspended Black Sea transits by its cargo ships over the weekend amid ongoing maritime security risks in the critical shipping corridor. Ukraine warned that its agricultural exports for the 2026-27 season could be halved due to Russian attacks.

Joe Davis, director of commodities at brokerage Futures International, was quoted by the outlet as saying that potential supply disruptions had boosted US-grown hard red winter varieties more sharply because the grain is seen as a direct competitor to higher-protein milling wheat from the Black Sea region and Europe.

"While the disruptions don't necessarily translate into immediate additional US export business," Davis said, adding, "they do tighten the global exportable supply outlook and balance sheets, forcing importers to diversify origins and keeping support under higher-quality wheat values." 

With wheat prices inching higher and approaching $7, which could spark upside momentum, a gauge of global food prices tracked by the UN climbed to a three-year high in July.

Disruptions not only in the Black Sea but also in the Strait of Hormuz, combined with adverse weather conditions across key US and other key growing regions as El Niño risks rise, are certainly putting a bid under food prices, as the worst may be yet to come.

UBS analysts outlined five forces driving grocery bills higher in a note last week (report here). They asked a very important question: Is this the end of cheap food?

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:50

"Niceness As Whiteness": Professors Denounce Politeness As Privilege

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

We have previously discussed how many professors seem to compete in finding new forms of racism in every facet of society and education.

Astrophysics, math, runoffs, science, statistics, and meritocracy have all been denounced as racist. In this academic cottage industry, professors secure publications and speaking opportunities by identifying racism in the expressions, images, or entire fields. Even time itself has been declared racist.

Now, however, academics have found another undiscovered continent of white privilege: niceness.

When I saw a story in The College Fix on a study of “niceness as Whiteness,” I was skeptical and decided to take a look. The study by Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Research Fellow Abigail Beneke, Professors Benjamin Fisher (U. Wisconsin-Madison), F. Chris Curran (U. Florida), and Samantha Viano (George Mason) was first flagged by Dr. James Nuzzo.

The paper “Niceness as Whiteness in School Police Officers’ Perceptions of Student Arrest” addresses the “perceptions of arrest” by school resource officers, or SROs) in two school districts.

The officers appear to be precisely what you are looking for in an SRO: empathetic and reluctant to make arrests. The researchers admit that they try to avoid arrests. However, according to the authors, hidden behind those sympathetic approaches was, of course, a boiling caldron of racism in terms of the racial disparity of those arrested.

Indeed, the researchers realized that it was the niceness itself that was the evidence of oppressive “Whiteness.” Indeed, the officers may not want to be engines of racism and use “niceness” as a “coping mechanism,” but do so by deluding themselves and others that they are nice:

“Nice SROs did not want to arrest children. Nice police officers thought of themselves as well-meaning. Yet, they expressed being required to arrest children because of real or imagined mandates. They used niceness as a strategy for upholding a system of Whiteness that systematically privileges White people and excludes those who fall outside of Whiteness. Niceness hinders possibilities for the types of political, communal relationships central to authentic care.”

The paper makes it sound like everyone would be better off, or at least more honest, to return to hostile, racist-spewing officers. The reason is that niceness is an  “enduring component of Whiteness” which “allows predominantly White people to elide how their own actions contribute to inequality by maintaining a sense of their own benevolence.”

The evidence of niceness includes such findings as how officers work at “minimiz[ing] the negative impact of arrest by highlighting their own goodness.” (This includes saying things like “You want to listen to the radio? You want the window down? Is there a station you want to listen to?” after an arrest.)

Then there is the fact that these officers have good relationships and perspectives of the students. Again, it is just a shield of “whiteness”:

“SROs used niceness as Whiteness in their recounts of arrest … by highlighting the positive relationships they had with students they arrested…As with highlighting their own goodness, highlighting these positive relationships reframes violence (i.e., arrest) that contributes to racial inequality as a positive, since students still like the SROs. This strategy emphasizes the officer’s ability to retain his niceness—by virtue of the maintained interpersonal relationship—despite having arrested the student.”

The paper is an example of ideological screeds posing as academic research. Based on a few interviews, the researchers simply declare the empathy and relationships to be shields perpetuating “whiteness.” They cite other studies identifying niceness as a whiteness tactic:

“Prior research has demonstrated how primarily White women educators use niceness to uphold Whiteness in their work with children (Bissonnette 2016; Drake & Rodriguez 2022; Gardiner et al., 2023; Vlach et al., 2022; Wiborg, 2022). We found niceness was also present in the work of SROs, suggesting the potential for broader application of niceness to well-intentioned actors working in structurally violent systems. In addition to framing niceness as a means of excusing behavior that upholds Whiteness, we equally center the structural binds that delimit SROs’ capacity for providing care. In doing so, we identify niceness as a coping mechanism for arresting children.”

At these universities (Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, George Mason, and the University of Florida), these faculty members and their obvious agenda are viewed as ideal choices to teach their students.

With four kids, I found the SROs at their schools to be extraordinary and popular figures. They would routinely intervene with kids to see if they were having trouble or try to direct them away from trouble. It turns out that everything that parents valued in their SROs was a perpetuation of privilege, according to these researchers.

While the researchers insist that “we do not intend to demonize individual SROs,” they reward the cooperating officers by twisting their every comment as revealing their deep white privilege. Presumably, they conveyed to the SROs that this would be a fair, unbiased study. It was neither, and, perhaps reaffirming their own triumph over racism, they were not a bit nice about it.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:35

US Existing Home Sales Disappoint (Again) In July, Hover Near Record Lows

With mortgage rates rising and the 'low hire, no fire' economy leaving many anxious about their household finances, the ugly spring selling season has not been followed by a consistent rebound in existing home sales in the US.

After falling 1.4% MoM in June (revised up from a 2.4% MoM decline), US existing home sales fell again -1.7% MoM in July (worse than the -1.0% MoM exp). This dragged the annual increase in sales down to just 0.74% YoY...

Overall, existing home sales SAAR is holding very modestly off record lows, holding just above the 4 million mark...

“Home sales have been remarkably stable, even amid the rising mortgage rate environment of the past few months,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement.

He added that “there’s no doubt that the housing market would be thriving if average mortgage rates were to return near 6%.”

In recent months, home-financing costs and prices went in the wrong direction. Thirty-year mortgage rates have been climbing since the late-February start of the war in Iran, and recently reached a one-year high of 6.81%.

The median sales price increased 2% from a year earlier to $434,100.

That was the highest selling price for any July on record and extended a stretch of annual price gains that started in summer 2023.

Inventories of new homes for sale remain relatively high (and are thus pressuring homebuilders to choke back on additional supply)...

But, the inventory of existing homes for sale fell slightly (-0.6%) from a year earlier to 1.54 million - the first annual decline since Oct 2023...

By region, previously owned home sales in the South, the nation’s biggest home-selling region, decreased 3.1% to a four-month low. Sales in the Midwest fell 2%. They were unchanged in the West and up in the Northeast.

First-time buyers accounted for 29% of sales in July, down from 33% a month earlier.

One silver lining is the nation’s affordability crunch is easing when compared with last year as rising household income growth has generally outpaced home price appreciation, Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American Financial Corp., wrote in a recent blog.

However, even some of that improvement has been eroded lately because of rising mortgage rates.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:09

A Modest Proposal: Performance Reviews For Senators

Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics,

It seems as though only one thing motivates Congress to act - the threat of elections.

That's why both the House and Senate have moved to pass a continuing resolution to keep funding the government until December. Originally funding was going to run out on Oct. 1, the date that was decided during the last shutdown crisis.

But with virtually every member of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate up for election in November, almost no one in Congress wanted to call attention to their own inaction by letting a new shutdown occur.

It's the political version of Pavlov's dogs. You know, the famous experiment by the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov who trained canines to salivate at the sound of a bell because they associated the bell with the expectation of food being served.

The same thing happens with members of Congress when they hear that an election is scheduled within the next three months. Suddenly they want to be productive.

A representative can ignore constituents for 22 months and then suddenly rediscover them during the last two. And senators can become unresponsive to their voters for most of their six-year term, enjoying junkets and the other fruits of power while being under no obligation to get anything done.

Makes you almost sympathize with the Democratic Socialists of America, who have made abolition of the Senate one of their top priorities. Six-year terms have their virtues, but they also make senators especially prone to forgetting who they work for.

But maybe we could salvage the Senate if we could adapt Pavlov's experiment in a way that would hopefully train senators to do their job on the regular instead of just once in a blue moon.

Call this my modest proposal. Like Jonathan Swift's famous satirical essay proposing that poor Irish parents sell their infants as food, it isn't intended as a serious legislative recommendation. It's meant to expose an absurdity - in this case, a Congress that suddenly remembers how to govern only when voters are about to fire it.

Sadly, the proposal has little likelihood of being put into effect by those senators whom it would put on notice. Yet if its argument is accurate, then we can at least all agree that senators - and yes, all members of Congress - are little more than trained monkeys. If only we could train them well, perhaps they would do their job more consistently.

No doubt you are wondering how we could possibly accomplish such a remarkable goal. It's a relatively simple mechanism, akin to the bell that Pavlov taught dogs to associate with food.

Namely, the Senate can institute a rule that once a month, the citizen constituents of each state will be able to vote electronically on whether they wish to retain or dismiss their senator.

Now, before you worry about constitutional entanglements and the risk of meddling in the results of such digital ballots, understand that the votes will not be binding. Instead they will simply keep senators on their toes, just as the threat of real elections does today. The results will be widely publicized, and any senator who consistently fails to win majority support from his state's voters will be publicly humiliated.

But if it were taken seriously, it could have a much wider impact. Political parties could guarantee additional campaign support to senators who consistently earned the confidence of their state's voters. And the opposite would be true as well. Suppose a senator has only a 30% retention rate from the citizens of his or her state. Donors would flee. Challengers would emerge. Even the most complacent senators might begin to reconsider their inaction.

The genius of elections is not that they remove bad politicians. It's that the possibility of removal changes behavior long before Election Day. Congress doesn't need more elections. It simply needs to remember every month that one is coming. Perhaps Pavlov's bell could do the trick.

And then, instead of Congress passing a continuing resolution to fund the government for a month or two, we could return to regular order and watch appropriations bills passed for an entire year. What a revolutionary concept!

Frank Miele, retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book "The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake" is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:45

The post Trump Grift vs. the “Biden Crime Family” appeared first on CEPR.

Residents Storm City Council In Texas Over Islamic Center Approval

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Outrage is boiling in North Texas after the McKinney City Council voted 7-0 to greenlight a major new Islamic center complex, brushing aside hours of public testimony that included a direct warning from an Iranian Christian who fled Sharia law.

Citizens packed City Hall for a marathon session that stretched past midnight. More than 150 people signed up to speak. The approved site plan covers roughly 5.5 acres at Virginia Parkway and Crutcher Crossing. It includes a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary, a 10,000-square-foot classroom building, and a 7,000-square-foot gym for the McKinney Islamic Association, which says its existing facility has been outgrown.

City staff insisted the revised plan met every zoning requirement with no variances, leaving the council little legal room to deny it. Council members framed the vote as purely procedural. Residents who showed up in force saw something far larger at stake.

? NOW: Outrage is ERUPTING after McKinney, Texas council votes to APPROVE a large Islamic Center

Countless citizens stormed the meeting to oppose it, including an Iranian Christian migrant who SURVIVED Sharia Law

"I'm a Sharia law survivor from Iran, an I'm here to tell you,... pic.twitter.com/j8VLFzv8tY

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 9, 2026

One of the most powerful moments came from an Iranian Christian migrant who identified himself as a Sharia law survivor. "I'm a Sharia law survivor from Iran, an I'm here to tell you, this is a dangerous ideology you're allowing in the country," he told the council.

Other residents voiced similar fears. "They forced their way into countries and forced their religion," one said. Another warned the project "may become a base where young men and women will be taught and trained to overthrow this great nation, a threat for which my forefathers fought with their own blood to build for the liberty of its citizens."

Attention also focused on the association's imam, Sheikh Mohammed Ajabali (also referred to as Mohamed AlGebaly), who holds a leadership role with the Islamic Tribunal of the Dallas area.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has examined the tribunal, stating that the group has sought to replace actual courts of law, impose Sharia on disputes among Texas Muslims, and falsely represent its decisions as final judgments with the approval of the Texas judicial system.

State Rep. Keresa Richardson urged the council to pause action pending that investigation. U.S. Rep. Keith Self, who represents the area, told the room: "Child marriage, honor killings, don't tell me that can't happen here. There is no state cavalry coming to save you." He added that the freedom to choose one's faith "does not exist in political Islam."

Supporters of the project stressed religious liberty, the association's long presence in McKinney, and compliance with city rules. Association president Yasser Wardany said the group had redesigned the plan multiple times in response to earlier feedback and remained "committed to being a good neighbor." Some council members pushed back against the intensity of the opposition, calling elements of it election-year rhetoric. The vote still went through unanimously.

This fits a clear and accelerating pattern across North Texas that has already drawn intense scrutiny from state leaders and local residents.

Earlier this year, Congressman Keith Self laid out how Sharia-adherent Muslim-only enclaves have already taken root. He pointed to the East Plano Islamic Center operating for more than a decade as a parallel society immediately adjacent to law enforcement facilities, with a similar pattern emerging in Irving.

"Sharia is alive, well, and operating in Plano, Texas," Self said. "This is not a hypothetical or future threat. It is here, now and operational." He described the placement next to police training facilities as intentional intimidation.

State authorities have also moved against unauthorized institutions. Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to issue an immediate cease-and-desist order against the so-called Texas American Muslim University in Richardson.

The operation had been marketing itself as the first U.S. university offering STEM degrees embedded with mandatory Islamic Studies courses while lacking any state authorization to grant degrees or even use the title "university." Abbott made clear that illegal educational institutions would not be tolerated.

Public facilities have been pulled into the same orbit. A taxpayer-funded waterpark in Grand Prairie, built with tens of millions in public sales-tax money, advertised a "Muslim only" Eid event complete with burkini requirements, lowered-gaze rules, and other Islamic etiquette restrictions. Organizers later softened the public language after backlash, but the exclusionary character of the original promotion was unmistakable.

The same controversy intersects with the far larger "EPIC City" project, later rebranded The Meadow. The 400-acre master-planned development northeast of Dallas is designed to include more than 1,000 homes, a mosque, faith-based schools, commercial space, and related facilities.

Developers scored a legal win when a judge ordered a state agency to comply with prior agreements even as investigations by the Texas Workforce Commission, Attorney General Paxton, and federal partners continued.

NEW: 'Muslim City' in Texas gets legal win after a judge ordered that the state must comply with developers.

The East Plano Islamic Community (EPIC), which has now been rebranded to The Meadow, will feature 1,000 homes, a mosque, schools, and more.

Texas leaders are worried... pic.twitter.com/HoSvNeV307

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 30, 2026

Governor Abbott has repeatedly stated that Sharia law, Sharia cities, and "no-go zones" have no place in Texas. Residents and elected officials continue to warn that the project risks creating a parallel community structure.

McKinney's approval lands against this backdrop. Local officials repeatedly insisted their hands were tied by zoning compliance and First Amendment considerations.

Residents who lived under actual Sharia systems, along with those watching the steady expansion of parallel institutions next to police facilities, private tribunals under investigation, unauthorized universities, and large-scale residential projects, see a different picture: incremental infrastructure for an ideology that does not accept equal standing under a single constitutional order.

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

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:05

Ex-DSA Member Blows Whistle Over "Mob Tactics" Used On Dissenters, Debates Over Levels-of-Leninism

Via RealClearPolitics,

Former Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organizer Jake Altman argues that over the past 10-15 years, the organization has transformed from a relatively pragmatic working-class social-democratic group into a much more radical movement driven by younger activists and open to more extreme ideas.

He describes internal pressure against dissenters, increasing openness to communism, and a demographic shift toward younger and more affluent, less experienced, and more radical members during an interview with The Free Press.

"When I joined in 2013, it was much more social democratic. It was very old, very white. In 2015 in Boston, it was a few older men and I who were the core of the old DSA chapter," Altman explained. "It is night and day between DSA in even 2015 and now. It went from this, like you say, pretty moderate social-political group to a cultural juggernaut that it is today."

"By 2014, a group called the Left Caucus was formed that advanced a lot of extreme views."

"There were debates at the time about how much Leninism do we want to let into DSA. And these people, they eroded any resistance and any core of anti-communism that remained within DSA. Anti-communism became forbidden, right? This is a big evil thing, to be an anti-communist."

"And you can't hold this view without running all the old people who experienced the 20th century out of the organization. And I think that had to have been part of the calculus, that they didn't want any internal resistance," he said. "And so there were instances where people were - I think efforts were made to silence people who dissented."

"I can speak from personal experience that if you dissent, there will be efforts to silence you. They use mob tactics, basically," he said. "So if you speak out, they will coordinate and a bunch of people will jump on you and denounce you, smear you behind your back, do whatever it takes to try to discredit you if you speak out against them."

"There was a local union in Ann Arbor who said it's too far to vandalize and intimidate public officials, vandalize their homes and intimidate them. That is too far," Altman said

"Immediately they received a swarm of people online responding to that statement, essentially saying, 'You're supporting genocide. Shame on you.' Trying to turn their members against them and stir up animosity towards them with the effort of silencing them."

"DSA itself makes a distinction - an important distinction - between paper members, who are people who give the organization their credit card and never come to a meeting, and cadre, who are hardcore activist members who show up to all the meetings and do all the work," he said. "The cadre are incredibly radical. The paper members might be, you know, think AOC and Bernie Sanders are great and let's get Medicare for All."

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:00

Fauci Privately Flagged Miscarriage Risk Before Telling Pregnant Women There Were 'No Red Flags'

Newly disclosed text messages show Dr. Anthony Fauci privately entertained the possibility that the COVID-19 vaccine could trigger first-trimester miscarriages, months before he told the public there was no risk.

The messages come from a trove that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) released, containing more than 34,000 texts and 522 voicemails the Senate Homeland Security Committee pulled from Fauci's government-issued phone. Among the trove is a January 2021 text chain between Fauci, Dr. Vivek Murthy and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who went on to serve as the Biden administration's surgeon general and CDC director, in which the three officials worked through how the vaccine's risks might interact with pregnancy.

On Jan. 25, Murthy opened the thread with a question. "For pregnant women considering getting the vaccine, are you aware of any data or theoretical reason why vaccinating early vs late in pregnancy would be preferred? And any sense of when there will be more robust data on vaccine risk in pregnant women?"

Walensky noted that more than 15,000 pregnant women had already enrolled in the CDC's V-safe vaccine safety monitoring system. Fauci wrote there "are no data or theoretical reason to believe that vaccinating early versus later in pregnancy would be preferred." He also flagged a caveat that would later look prescient. "Yet, some people (even female health care professionals) feel concerned about injecting a 'genetic' vaccine very early in pregnancy," he wrote.

Nearly two hours passed before Fauci circled back with something he had not mentioned the first time. "I asked around a bit more and another issue came up that you need to be aware of," he wrote. "Since many people have significant cytokines storm and fever after the 2nd dose, this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester."

NEW: Dr. Fauci was concerned in January 2021 that the second dose of the COVID shot “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”
@SenRandPaul and I released the texts between Anthony Fauci, Rochelle Walensky, and Vivek Murthy below.

While I’ve… pic.twitter.com/jktB1PxfPL

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) August 10, 2026

Walensky's response left little doubt the group treated the concern as legitimate. Fauci's point about the first trimester was "definitely a good point, [especially] after dose two," she wrote back.

None of that made it into Fauci's public messaging. On Feb. 3, 2021, during a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) question-and-answer livestream, he told viewers the FDA had "found thus far, and we have to be careful, but thus far no red flags about that, about pregnant women." Months later, while serving as the Biden White House's chief medical adviser, he went further, telling the public that tens of thousands of pregnant women tracked by the CDC after vaccination showed "no indication whatsoever" of increased adverse issues compared with unvaccinated pregnant women. "It's pretty clear that pregnant women should get vaccinated," he said.

Fauci on August 30, 2021: “it's really one of those things that's kind of not a close call. It really is pretty clear that pregnant women should get vaccinated.”

But 7 months earlier he was concerned that the second dose of the COVID shot “theoretically could be associated with… https://t.co/5J5tpwNJ0i pic.twitter.com/7QmEHP9Nkb

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) August 10, 2026

The texts also show the three officials weighing vaccine risk against the risk of the virus itself while worrying about how competing health authorities were muddying their message. On Jan. 26, 2021, Murthy told Fauci and Walensky he was "surprised to see WHO put out a strong [statement] saying they do not recommend moderna [sic] in pregnant women," calling it "a strong statement to make and potentially quite damaging to public confidence among pregnant women." Public confidence kept surfacing as the metric that mattered most to the group, even as the underlying science remained unsettled in their own private assessment.

Paul and Johnson said the phone the committee obtained lists only three contacts, and cautioned it is "too early to determine whether any data has been deleted." Paul referred Fauci for prosecution earlier this month over his refusal to testify before the Homeland Security Committee. Asked Monday whether he had discussed potential prosecution of Fauci with Attorney General Todd Blanche or DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, President Trump told reporters, "I have not spoken to them about that, no."

Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a July 29 hearing covering the pandemic and federally funded gain-of-function research. After the hearing, Paul and Johnson said they had obtained a forensic copy of Fauci's phone along with emails showing health officials had requested deletion of some records. 

Johnson said Monday on Fox News' America Reports that the committee has invited Fauci for a transcribed interview. "He's been quoted as saying he's not afraid of congressional oversight. He'll talk to any oversight committee; he's got nothing to hide," Johnson said, noting that Fauci's attorneys have been in contact. He called Fauci "the only guy that can answer some of these questions" and warned, "If they don't set that up voluntarily, I will subpoena him."

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 08:35

 

Guest post by Josh Frankel

 

In April 2025, my NYS municipality rushed to sign a contract for Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), live view cameras, and drone-as-first-responder technology with Flock Safety. The Flock contract was hastily put on the agenda for a vote that same evening, bypassing the customary public notice, as required by law. The subject was misleadingly referred to as “Public Safety Equipment” and gave no further detail as to what was under consideration or why.

Curious about where the cameras would be placed, I filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for the exact locations of the new Flock cameras. My request was denied three times, despite an extremely favorable opinion from the NYS Committee on Open Government (COOG).

So I sued. I filed an Article 78 litigation against the Village of Scarsdale (Index # 57090/2026 – February, 2026, Westchester County Supreme Court¹); last submissions to the judge were April 27. There is similar litigation, brought by the same New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) attorneys representing me, pending against Westchester County.2

~~~

A veil of secrecy is an essential component of Flock’s playbook, and what happened in my village is the playbook in municipalities nationwide. Flock makes inroads, secures support — and, I believe, personally coaches local law enforcement and trustees on how to keep it all on the down-low. Before you know it, Flock cameras are popping up everywhere.

Worse, some communities vote them through “consent agendas” — bulk votes on what are supposed to be routine matters. One community, Lucas County Ohio, rammed through on a consent agenda and tried to cancel once local officials realized exactly what they’d done.

The story of what happened in my community was perfectly chronicled by independent journalist Jessica Burbank. She wrote a killer piece for DropSite News and produced an outstanding one-hour documentary. Jessica’s work was a catalyst in bringing mass surveillance front and center nationwide. Her work, along with that of 404Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has been indispensable in the effort to rein in this out-of-control technology.

Ultimately, intense public outcry and the failure to secure grant funding led to the cancellation of the contract in my community.

My involvement in opposing mass surveillance continues through my ongoing litigation with the NYCLU and volunteer work with the Institute for Justice (IJ). I am slated to join an IJ webinar in the coming days to discuss my experience. To that end, I have put together the following “toolkit,” which I hope other like-minded folks will use as a roadmap in their local communities.

Each and every tool in the kit was useful in its own way, and taken together, they are very powerful.

Good luck!

NOTE: FOIA/FOIL laws vary greatly from state to state. What works in NYS might not work elsewhere (and vice versa). Familiarize yourself with your state’s law so you can extract everything to which you are legally entitled.

 

~~~

 

LOCAL ALPR ADVOCACY: A CITIZEN’S TOOLKIT
Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Ask Questions.

Local surveillance programs can move from proposal to approval quickly—and sometimes with relatively little public attention. Residents do not need to be lawyers, technologists, or privacy experts to have an impact. They do need to pay attention, ask questions, obtain the records, and persist.

1. KNOW WHAT YOUR GOVERNMENT IS DOING

-Watch local government agendas. Search Board, Council, Police Commission and committee agendas for terms such as ALPR, license plate reader, camera, public safety technology, surveillance, and vendor names such as Flock Safety.

-Attend or watch public meetings. Important details often emerge during discussion that never appear in the agenda or resolution.

-Read the actual documents. Don’t rely solely on how a proposal is characterized publicly. Obtain the proposed contract, staff memoranda, policies, presentations and supporting materials.

-Ask questions early. Who will have access? How long will data be retained? Who can search it? Can other agencies access it? Is data shared across jurisdictions? What audit controls exist? Where will cameras be located? What happens when the contract ends?

2. USE PUBLIC-RECORDS LAWS

-NYS FOIL is a powerful investigative tool (with a strong presumption of access). Request contracts, proposals, vendor correspondence, policies, data-retention rules, audit logs, camera locations, internal memoranda and communications with neighboring agencies. AI can be very helpful in crafting comprehensive requests that are impossible to dodge.

-Ask for records—not answers. A well-crafted request identifies existing records rather than asking the government to explain itself.

-Request native electronic records when useful. Spreadsheets and databases can reveal considerably more than PDFs.

-Appeal denials. An agency’s initial “no” is not necessarily the final word.

-Know the exemptions being asserted. Ask the government to identify specifically why records are being withheld rather than accepting generalized claims about “security” or “law enforcement.”

-Use New York’s Committee on Open Government. COOG advisory opinions and guidance can be valuable when challenging an agency’s interpretation of FOIL. The Advisory Opinion I got — F19882 — could be very useful in other NYS municipalities.

3. FOLLOW THE PAPER TRAIL

-Build a chronology.

-Save agendas, meeting videos, resolutions and contracts.

-Preserve emails and correspondence.

-Compare what officials say publicly with what the underlying documents show.

-Follow the money: grants, purchase orders, contracts, renewals and amendments can reveal where a program is headed.

-Set up a Google Alert for “Flock Safety” — stay current on what is going on nationwide.

–Look beyond your municipality. Counties, neighboring police departments and other agencies may possess records involving the same system or vendor.

4. USE THE PUBLIC PROCESS

-Speak during public comment.

-Write to elected officials both collectively and individually.

-Ask specific questions that require specific answers.

-Draft and circulate a petition (one targeted petition is better than several that are fragmented).

-Encourage officials to adopt written policies before deployment rather than after cameras are operating.

-Ask for meaningful legislative oversight—not simply administrative approval by a police department.

–Bring other interested residents into the discussion. One inquiry is easy to dismiss; sustained public interest is much harder to ignore.

5. LEVERAGE LOCAL MEDIA

-Local reporters are often looking for well-documented stories about government, policing, technology and privacy.

-Give journalists documents and facts, not merely conclusions.

-Explain why the issue affects ordinary residents—not just people concerned about surveillance.

-Simplify: A complicated technology story becomes much more understandable when framed around these simple questions: Who is watching? What are they collecting? Who can see it? How long do they keep it?

6. DON’T ACCEPT FALSE CHOICES

Supporting effective law enforcement and questioning government surveillance are not mutually exclusive.

False question:

“Are ALPRs good or bad?”

Better questions:

What problem are we trying to solve?

Does this technology materially solve it?

What information will be collected about innocent people in the process?

What safeguards, oversight and transparency should accompany it?

7. DO RESEARCH

Access the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to get actual crime and clearance data for your municipality. Doing so can go a long way toward determining if you even have a problem that needs to be solved. I believe “Motor Vehicle Theft” should be the most relevant crime to explore. What is, or has been, the trajectory of clearance rates, i.e. are they rising dramatically, as they should be? This data is readily available and should match up to what you would receive from a FOIL request, without the wait.

8. BE PERSISTENT

Government processes move slowly. Records requests get delayed. Answers may generate more questions. Policies change. Vendors return with revised proposals.

Persistence matters.

9. THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON

Local government works differently when people are watching.

You don’t need special access. You need curiosity, public records, patience—and a willingness to keep asking reasonable questions until you get reasonable answers.

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

1. JOSHUA FRANKEL v. VILLAGE OF SCARSDALE
Special Proceedings – CPLR Article 78

2. I am not a named party in the new case against the County, though that COOG opinion and my FOIL work were foundational. (Index # 57090/2026 – Westchester County Supreme Court)

 

The post Flock Around and Find Out: A Citizen’s Guide to Local ALPR Oversight appeared first on The Big Picture.

Futures Jump, Oil Tumbles As Well-Timed Comments Spark Latest Round Of Hormuz Optimism

US equity futures were trading near session lows with bond yields at August highs of 4.74% and Brent rising above $90 for the first time in two weeks when - with just hours until the market open - we had the now standard double-whammy of well-timed "imminent deal optimism" thanks first to the Qatar foreign ministry, followed less than an hour later by comments from the Pakistan defense minister - a man repeatedly used by the Trump admin to spread market-moving propaganda - which sparked instant algo buying on hopes of, what else, an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Pakistani, the US and Iran "are close to some agreement" and "the situation is moving towards peace" which was sufficient to not only push futures immediately to session highs, and just shy of all time highs...

... but also dump oil more than $3 and send bond yields to session lows on what is the same song and dance the market has heard countless times before, even as strategic and commercial oil stocks and reserves are being rapidly depleted below operational minimum levels.

As of 8:00am, S&P futures climbed 0.2% and contracts on the Nasdaq advanced 0.4%. Ten-year Treasury yields were little changed at 4.71%, erasing an earlier move as high as 4.76%, as Brent crude erased gains to trade 0.4% lower at around $87 per barrel, rising above $90 earlier. Earlier in the morning, Intel announced a $20BN capital raise in an upsized share sale (orifinally $15BN) that drew more than $100 billion in demand. That deal followed hot on the heels of Nvidia’s plan to tap a group of Wall Street firms for $500 billion in funding commitments, which CEO Huang said will underwrite AI infrastructure costs for customers. Today's US economic data calendar includes ADP weekly employment change (8:15am) and July existing home sales (10am). Fed speaker slate includes Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee, unscripted on WIRED Tech Support on YouTube; Cleveland Fed’s Hammack and Richmond Fed’s Barkin have appearances slated Thursday.

In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mostly higher (Nvidia +1.1%, Meta +0.3%, Tesla +0.5%, Apple +0.2%, Microsoft -0.1%, Alphabet -0.03%, Amazon +0.05%)

• ACV Auctions (ACVA), a digital marketplace to buy and sell cars, climbs 20% after people familiar with the matter said the company is exploring strategic options including a potential sale.
• Babcock & Wilcox (BW) jumps 35% after the maker of power generation equipment reported revenue for the second quarter that was far beyond the average analyst estimate.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) climbs nearly 2% after the distributor of healthcare products provided a year forecast for adjusted earnings per share that beat the average analyst estimate.
• Everpure (P) rises 7% after the computer storage company said it secured a design win and supply agreement with a second top-five hyperscaler.
• Fermi (FRMI) rallies 16% after the power company entered its first binding customer lease at its Project Matador campus with TensorWave.
• Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) is down 5% after the telehealth firm reduced the top end of its adjusted Ebitda forecast for the full year. The company also said it plans to enter the peptides market before the end of the year.
• On Holding’s (ONON) US-listed shares drop 15% after posting disappointing second-quarter sales, as the company held off from discounting older shoe models ahead of product updates in the US market.
• Plug Power (PLUG) rises 13% after the green hydrogen company reported net revenue for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. The company also raised an outlook for revenue growth.
• Rapid7 (RPD) gains 6% after the software company raised its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings. It also increased the low end of its full-year revenue forecast.
• Riot Platforms (RIOT) climbs 17% after the Bitcoin mining company that recently began selling AI data center capacity was said to strike a $9.1 billion deal with Anthropic. The company also reported reported total revenue for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) falls 5% after the company gave an outlook for adjusted Ebitda that is weaker than expected. It also pointed to a potential new delay with its Neutron rocket.
• Sable Offshore (SOC) falls 6% after the energy company had charges due to displaced cargoes in the second quarter and faced oil sales constraints at the start of the third quarter.
• Upwork (UPWK) tumbles 19% after the online recruitment company cut its full-year forecast for both revenue and adjusted Ebitda. Analysts see the results as a sign that AI is weighing on the company’s business.

Risk appetite, which was near session lows around 6am, spiked up after comments from Pakistan’s defense minister, who said signals in recent days suggest the US and Iran are “close to some sort of arrangement.” Earlier, US President Donald Trump made sweeping new demands on Iran, dimming hopes for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Away from the Middle East developments, investors are looking to the US consumer price index reading on Wednesday for fresh signals on the path for Federal Reserve interest rates after Friday’s softer-than-expected data tempered bets on an immediate hike. US CPI probably rose 0.1% in July following a 0.4% decline in the prior month, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists ahead of Wednesday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics release. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack struck a hawkish tone on Monday, saying it’s possible a number of rate hikes may be needed to bring inflation down to the central bank’s 2% target.

In the latest massive capital raise to fund the AI rollout, Intel raised $20 billion in an upsized share sale that drew more than allegedly $100 billion in demand. That deal followed hot on the heels of Nvidia’s plan to tap a group of Wall Street firms for $500 billion in funding commitments, which CEO Huang said will underwrite AI infrastructure costs for customers. The “bank of Nvidia” creates a protective financing moat for the chipmaker, while fueling credit risk by lending to customers, according to Panmure Liberum’s Mark Taylor. “Nvidia is cutting a lot of checks and a lot of commitments with finite free cash flow” to an industry “driven more by efficiency of the technology and struggling for meaningful monetization.” That brings focus back onto the circular deals underpinning the AI boom.

With earnings season winding down, analysts are pricing a streak of exceptional profit growth for the S&P 500, the likes of which has typically only been seen after deep earnings recessions. But among global markets, investors are now flocking to Europe, which has experienced not only a stellar earnings season but is also benefitting from more clarity on rates than the US.

S&P 500 companies are on track for about 32% year-on-year profit growth in the second quarter, following a jump of 30% in the previous three months, according to figures tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence. The next two quarters are also projected to deliver gains exceeding 20%. Such runs are rare, occurring only 10 times since 1936, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists led by Savita Subramanian. Debt-funded AI spending will continue to support earnings despite volatility, according to Barclays Plc strategists, who prefer US growth and large-cap stocks.

In the latest AI news, Anthropic struck a $9.1 billion compute capacity agreement with Riot Platforms. CoreWeave’s guidance after the close will be closely watched as another indicator of demand for AI infrastructure. The company, which rents cloud-computing power for AI, gets about 80% of its revenue from Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft. And check out today’s Big Take on how AI-dominated leveraged ETFs look set to join the list of products that got too popular for their own good.

Barclays strategists stick with factor preferences of US growth and large-cap stocks as AI spending supports earnings; in Europe, they continue to favor value stocks and say momentum may recover gradually after a sharp selloff. US and European markets have seen a recovery in positioning over the past week, putting shorts under pressure, especially for the S&P 500, according to strategists at Citigroup.

In Europe, equities also reversed earlier losses with the Stoxx 600 rising 0.1% on the Iran headlines, amid very low volumes in the August lull. Energy and technology firms outperformed for a second day while insurers lagged. Here are the biggest movers Tuesday:

• Alcon shares advance as much as 6.5%, the most since November 2025, as the Swiss eye-care company delivers second-quarter results ahead of expectations and lifts guidance for core Ebit margin and EPS growth
• Idorsia shares gain as much as 6.7%, outperforming the Swiss Performance Index on Tuesday morning, after the US Drug Enforcement Administration proposed reclassifying dual orexin receptor antagonists, including the Swiss pharmaceuticals producer’s insomnia treatment Quviviq
• Bell Food Group shares rise as much as 11%, the biggest intraday gain in 15 years, after the meat and convenience food company reported earnings ahead of expectations, according to Zürcher Kantonalbank
• Lion Finance Group shares jumped as much as 5% to a record high after second-quarter earnings beat expectations, helped by stronger net interest income and fees, while the lender raised its first-half dividend and announced a further GEL59 million buyback
• ISS gains as much as 4.8%, the most since July 2, after the Danish facility services group’s latest earnings were praised by analysts
• Legal & General shares fall as much as 5%, the most in three months. UBS and Goldman Sachs downgrade the stock noting recent outperformance, marking at least the third move to a sell rating this week
• Spirax drops as much as 11%, breaking its recent run, after the thermal energy and fluid technology specialist’s small beat in the first-half and reiterated guidance failed to propel shares higher
• IHG shares slip as much as 3% to the lowest level since May. The hotelier reported a small miss on Ebit in the first half, though analysts attribute the shortfall to a one-off incident
• International Workplace Group shares fall as much as 11%, the most in almost a year, after the office company’s first half results showed an unexpected drop in free cash flow
• Tecan shares fall as much as 13%, the most since October 2024, after the Swiss maker of laboratory automation components and systems saw its order intake decline in the first half of the year
• Genuit Group shares slide as much as 7.7%, the most since April, after the British building materials group reported a miss on profit in the first half
• M&G falls as much as 3.6%, the most since March 23, after UBS downgraded the stock to sell from neutral, citing the UK asset manager’s “high valuation relative to its own history and peers.”

Asian stocks erased earlier gains to trade little changed, as losses in China offset gains in tech names. The MSCI Asia Pacific index excluding Japan edged lower after climbing as much as 0.5%. Tencent Holdings and AIA Group were among the biggest drags on the gauge, while chipmakers Samsung and TSMC were the biggest boosts. Australian stocks rose after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected, while markets in South Korea and Taiwan also advanced. Japan was shut for a holiday. Oil’s continued climb amid US President Donald Trump’s new demands on Iran has revived inflation concerns for regional economies. Sentiment is also muted ahead of the release of key US consumer price data that would offer clues on interest rate trajectory. Leading gainer Samsung shares climbed 4.1% on expectations for a massive shareholder return package during Samsung Group’s Asia conference starting Tuesday. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s main tech stock benchmark is set for a revamp to include more companies representing the fast-growing AI and robotics sectors

“Higher oil prices and a stronger US dollar are weighing on sentiment in parts of the region,” said Mohit Mirpuri, a partner at SGMC Capital Pte in Singapore. “Investors are also fairly cautious ahead of the US CPI print tomorrow, which should give us a little more clarity on the Fed rate path.”

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index held steady as Brent hit $90 a barrel. AUD/USD fell as much as 0.2% to 0.7040; The RBA left rates unchanged and said financial conditions are “somewhat restrictive." NZD/USD fell over 0.2% to 0.5868, leading G-10 losses against the dollar; New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon summoned lawmakers to a meeting as questions over his leadership intensify. EUR/USD dipped 0.1% to 1.1531. USD/JPY steadied around 159.36. Bessent’s suggestion of a no-limits approach to helping Japan rescue the yen may be limited by his firepower to do the job, with the Exchange Stabilization Fund having holdings of less than $220 billion.

In rates, treasuries pared losses at the start of the US trading day as oil prices stabilize after comments by Pakistan defence minister stoked optimism for an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Focal points of US session include 3-year note auction, first of this week’s three Treasury coupon sales, indicated to draw highest yield since January 2025. Thanks to the diplomatic headlines noted above, yields are now little changed, erasing the entire move higher, with the curve slightly steeper; 30-year nearly reached its July 31 multiyear high 5.28% before retreating. First Treasury coupon auction cycle of the August-to-October financing begins with $58b 3-year note sale at 1pm New York time; 10- and 30-year new-issue auctions follow over next two days. WI 3-year yield near 4.33% exceeds comparable auction results since January 2025. IG credit new-issue calendar is blank so far, however seven issuers signaled intention on Monday, when 19 borrowers raised a combined $27.6 billion, more than half the anticipated weekly total; dealers predicted it would be front-loaded ahead of the July CPI report to be released Wednesday

In commodities, WTI crude oil futures are slightly lower after climbing 3% to the highest level since July 31 following comments from Qatari and Pakistani officials meant to boost risk sentiment. Precious metals are fading some of their recent gains, with spot gold down 0.4% after temporarily making its way onto a $4,400/oz handle during APAC trade.

Today's US economic data calendar includes ADP weekly employment change (8:15am) and July existing home sales (10am); ahead this week are July CPI, PPI and retail sales and August preliminary University of Michigan sentiment. Fed speaker slate includes Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee, unscripted on WIRED Tech Support on YouTube; Cleveland Fed’s Hammack and Richmond Fed’s Barkin have appearances slated Thursday.

Market Snapshot

Top Overnight News

• Iran’s new supreme leader, Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, is putting his own stamp on the country’s national-security policy amid a confrontation with the U.S. that could last months or even years. In a sweeping overhaul of the government’s top echelon on Sunday and Monday, Iran named seasoned hard-liners to run the country’s security policies and institutions of repression. WSJ
• Persian Gulf energy producers are concluding that Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz will become permanent, disrupting their oil and gas exports and global energy supplies indefinitely. The problem is they worry the alternative—going back to war—would be worse. WSJ
• The BoJ may be edging toward an early rate hike, but it faces a growing risk that any move to tighten policy will be offset by mounting political pressure to support the bond market. As government spending plans drive yields ‌higher, the BOJ is being drawn into an increasingly awkward battle to defend its push to normalize policy and resist calls to resume the very bond-buying it is trying to unwind. RTRS
• The Bank of Korea will likely need to raise interest rates further as strong growth feeds into underlying inflation, its outgoing senior deputy governor said, while adding that the stronger currency and recent stock market moves give policymakers some flexibility in setting policy. BBG
• The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged on Tuesday but continued to warn that inflation remains too high, especially against the backdrop of war in the Middle East. WSJ
• UK retail sales rose an annual 1.3% in July, half the pace recorded a year earlier as consumers stayed at home during the heat wave. BBG
•  OpenAI is said to have bought back roughly $7 billion of employee shares at a valuation of $852 billion. BBG
• Intel Corp. raised $20 billion in an upsized share sale, a third more than it was targeting when it announced the deal Monday morning. The share sale drew more than $100 billion in demand, people familiar with the matter said, and was priced at $95 per share, representing a discount of 6.5% to Friday’s closing price: BBG
• Anthropic struck a $9.1 billion deal with Riot Platforms for 191 megawatts of data center capacity, people familiar said. Riot shares soared premarket. BBG
• Australia’s central bank chief Michele Bullock adopted a hawkish stance after keeping interest rates unchanged for a second straight meeting on Tuesday, warning it’s “quite possible” that further tightening will be needed: BBG
• Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax was temporarily blocked by a state court judge on Staten Island after a group of homeowners argued its introduction was mishandled. BBG

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed following a lacklustre lead from Wall Street, where risk sentiment was constrained by higher oil prices and yields amid geopolitical uncertainty, while conditions in Asia were thinned due to the Japanese holiday closure. ASX 200 gained amid strength in energy and miners following recent upside in underlying commodity prices, but with upside capped after weak NAB business confidence and heading into the RBA which kept rates unchanged as expected and maintained its hawkish tone, although it was slightly less hawkish, with the central bank acknowledging that financial conditions in Australia appear somewhat restrictive and it also trimmed CPI forecasts. KOSPI climbed alongside a rebound in tech and with notable gains in Samsung Electronics. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were lacklustre after the PBoC opted for zero liquidity operations today, although the downside in the mainland was cushioned following prior reports that China issued the first new round of consumption vouchers aimed at boosting spending.

Top Asian News

• China's CPCA said China sold 1.47mln passenger cars in July (vs 1.651mln in June, -21.1% Y/Y); Tesla (TSLA) exported 66,330 vehicles in July (vs 36,000 in June).

European bourses trade mostly in the red, outside of the AEX and IBEX 35, as higher energy prices weigh on indices. The source of the move higher in energy came amid reports that a Saudi ship was reportedly targeted near Bab-al-Mandab. As a reminder, the Houthis have vowed in recent days to continue operations targeting Saudi oil tankers. Sectors have a negative bias. Energy is the only sector with clear gains, given the upside in energy benchmarks (Brent +2.5%). The sector laggard is Travel & Leisure, with Insurance and Construction rounding out the underperformers.

Top European News

• Swedish NIER Economic Forecasts: Raises 2026 GDP growth forecast to 2.4% (prev. 2.2%), maintains 2027 GDP growth; Maintains 2026 CPIF, cuts 2027 CPIF to 2.2% (prev. 2.1%).
• Italian Trade Balance (Jun) 4.232 vs. Exp. 4.74 (Prev. 4.793).
• UK BRC Retail Sales Monitor (Jul YY) 1.0% vs. Exp. 1.5% (Prev. 1.7%).

FX

• Quiet action across G10s sees most currencies flat against the Buck with geopolitics driving the little moves seen.
• DXY attempting to build on Monday's gains, now looking towards the 100.00 mark as elevated energy benchmarks continue to support the Greenback (see commodities), price action which has supported a couple more bps of tightening across Fed expectations. Focus this week is overwhelmingly on the CPI print, especially since FT sources before NFP suggested Warsh was focused on the inflation side of the mandate heading into the September meeting. Data scheduled today includes the weekly ADP release, while the Fed speaker slate is light.
• AUD broadly unchanged after the RBA left rates unchanged, in line with analyst/market expectations. Some immediate AUD weakness on the statement as it tweaked language around inflation vigilance ("prepared to increase the cash rate if required" -> "...if upside risks materialise"), added the description of policy as "somewhat restrictive", and revised inflation forecasts lower, points which reinforce the view the bank is comfortable and set to remain on hold until mid-2027 as markets expect. However, the hawkish presser, "Possible we need to hike again" saw a reversal of that kneejerk lower, leaving AUD/USD just 10 pips lower at 0.7050. Some banks still caution there are hawkish risks to the outlook, while ING, Westpac and MUFG are some of the banks maintaining calls for unch. in 2026; RBA market pricing reflects the same, steady post-announcement.
• Some continued strength in energy exporters against the Dollar as geopolitics lacks positive updates, with CAD (+0.1%) and NOK (+0.1%). The latter has passed 1.00 in the Scandi cross (NOK/SEK +0.2%) as SEK suffers as a net importer. Action elsewhere is quiet, GBP, JPY, CHF all flat against the USD; EUR also unch. vs. the Buck, though firmer against most CEE, HUF to the largest degree.

Fixed Income

• A bearish session for the space, after being relatively contained overnight despite the incremental upticks in energy seen after POTUS commentary and the general lack of progress.
• However, the bias became much more apparent in the early European morning, as energy lifted from a maritime incident in Bab al-Mandab (see Commodities for more details). Amidst this, USTs fell from 108-09 to 108-04, lower by 7+ ticks at most.
• Bunds and Gilts follow suit directionally, down to lows of 124.28 and 86.33 respectively. Lower by 21 and 53 ticks, respectively. The docket for both is light. The German Bobl auction was broadly in line with the prior auction, but it did result in modest upticks in Bund futures.
• Germany sells EUR 4.627bln vs Exp. 6bln 2.90% 3031 Bobl: b/c 1.48x (prev. 1.48x), average yield 2.93% (prev. 2.89%), retention 22.9% (prev. 24.1%).

Commodities

• WTI Sep and Brent Oct futures are on a firmer footing with upside this morning seen amid reports a Saudi ship was targeted near Bab al-Mandab. Rhetoric also remains tense, with US President Trump saying, regarding potential escalation with Iran, that it is certainly possible and still has the ability to escalate. Furthermore, US President Trump, responding to Iran's requests for compensation during the conflict, said he was demanding compensation from Iran. Market focus remains around the prospect of getting oil flowing through both the Hormuz and Bab el Mandeb, with a US-Iran deal proving elusive and the Iran-Oman Hormuz deal unfavourable for Washington. Brent resides in a USD 87.41-90.02/bbl after topping yesterday’s USD 87.93/bbl high. WTI trades towards the top end of a USD 81.91-84.46/bbl range, vs yesterday’s 82.38/bbl peak. Dutch TTF is flat after finding resistance around EUR 62.50/MWh but remains north of EUR 60/MWh.
• Precious metals are weaker as energy prices continue to edge higher, adding to inflationary and growth concerns. Spot gold resides around its 100 DMA (USD 4,389/oz) in a current USD 4,356-4,435/oz range, vs yesterday’s 4,395/oz peak, with the 200 DMA at USD 4,497/oz. Spot silver is similarly subdued towards the bottom of a USD 64.23-66.48/oz.
• Base metals are mixed/flat, with downside from energy cushioned amid ongoing hopes of Chinese stimulus. 3M LME copper resides in a narrow USD 14,103.00- 14,199.40/t range at the time of writing.
• Iranian Oil Minister said 95mln cubic meters of gas will return to the production cycle by the end of September.
• Romania said it is to shut down its second nuclear reactor in the next 48 hours amid low water levels at Danube.
• Chile's Codelco copper production fell 4.8% Y/Y to 114,400 tonnes in June, Escondida copper mine production rose 45.8% Y/Y to 111,400 tonnes, Collahuasi mine copper production rose 1.7% Y/Y to 34,900 tonnes in June, according to Cochilco.

Central Banks

• RBA kept the Cash Rate unchanged at 4.35%, as expected, with the decision unanimous, while it stated that inflation is still elevated and risks are skewed to the upside, but noted financial conditions appear to be somewhat restrictive and it trimmed its CPI forecasts. RBA stated that the Board will remain attentive to incoming data and the evolving assessment of the outlook and risks when guiding its decisions, while it remains focused on preventing high inflation from becoming entrenched and will continue to do what it considers necessary to return inflation sustainably to target, including raising the Cash Rate further if upside risks materialise. It also stated that inflation remains too high and is not expected to return to around the midpoint of the target range until late 2027, with upside risks to that projection. However, it also stated following three increases since the start of the year, financial conditions are now tighter than previously and the economy appears to be slowing as expected, as well as stated that financial conditions in Australia appear somewhat restrictive and the economy is expected to return to balance in 2027, a little earlier than previously forecast.
• In the post-policy press conference, RBA Governor Bullock said they see upside risks to inflation and that they will raise rates again if needed. She added that they did not discuss a rate cut at the meeting, only a raise or hold.
• The BoJ may consider an additional interest rate increase at its next policy meeting September 17th-18th, following a hike in June, in response to rising risks of higher inflation, according to informed sources cited by Jiji.

Geopolitics: Iran

• There was a maritime incident reported in Bab al-Mandab, with Fars reporting that a Saudi ship was reportedly targeted by the Yemeni army. In other news, Yemeni sources said a second missile targeted a ship while the coast guard was rescuing its crew in Bab al-Mandab.
• The UKMTO has received a report of an incident involving a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said the world should hold the US accountable for the Hormuz block, while Hormuz security requires end to US aggression, according to Fars News Agency.
• Yemen military source said government forces launched a concentrated attack on militia positions in Harib, Shabwa, according to Al Arabiya.
• Explosions reported in Yemen's Marib, according to SNN.
• Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold the next round of talks in early September, according to Al-Arabiya.
• Israeli forces conducted new strikes in southern Lebanon, according to SNN.

Geopolitics: Ukraine

• Kyiv's mayor said there were explosions in the capital and that the city was under ballistic attack.
• Ukraine's Military said it attacked an oil refinery in Russia's Orsk.
• Turkey is said to be discussing a mechanism with Russia and Ukraine a mechanism to prevent attacks on ships in the Black Sea, RIA reported citing a Turkish cabinet source.

US Event Calendar

• 6:00 am: Jul NFIB Small Business Optimism, est. 97.5, prior 97.4
• 10:00 am: Jul Existing Home Sales, est. 4.05m, prior 4.09m
• 11:00 am: New York Fed Credit Report
• 12:00 pm: Fed’s Goolsbee Appears on WIRED Tech Support

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Yesterday I was looking for something to cool us down here in Europe and, helpfully, it arrives tomorrow evening in the form of a solar eclipse. Totality is reserved for those in Greenland, Iceland, Spain (and a small part of Portugal), and northern Russia. Here in the UK, coverage should reach around 90-96%, with slightly lower percentages across much of continental Europe. So enjoy the brief dip in temperature and the chance to see daylight dim for a few minutes before the next heatbomb arrives on Thursday.

If the eclipse offers a temporary darkening of the skies, markets found a darker cloud in the inflation outlook yesterday, as oil prices rose again amid the absence of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, fuelling fresh speculation about rate hikes. In fact, Brent crude (+4.99% to $87.72/bbl) rallied past $85/bbl for the first time this month, whilst the 10yr Treasury yield (+6.2bps) unwound the entirety of its decline after Friday’s payrolls with September Fed hike pricing returning to above 50% ahead of tomorrow's CPI. So after last week when it felt like the doves were in the ascendant again, the latest news has pushed things in a more hawkish direction, with yields and commodity prices both moving higher. 

In terms of the latest from the Middle East, there was still no sign of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and we also saw an escalation in the rhetoric between the US and Iran. From the Iranian side, a spokesman for its foreign ministry said yesterday that, while negotiations with Oman were “progressing smoothly and constructive”, the reopening was “contingent on the US ceasing its illegal actions, lifting the siege, and compensating for damages”. This request for reparations drew a rebuke from Trump, who posted that he was “likewise demanding compensation from Iran” for people killed by Iran in conflicts as well as in quashing protests. He added that this demand would be put “firmly into any, and all, future negotiations”. This follows Trump’s interview with Axios on Sunday, where he said that “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money." So there’s no sign of the gap between the two sides narrowing towards any imminent deal, while shipping via Hormuz remains at a virtual standstill.

The more pessimistic narrative meant that Brent crude oil (+4.99%) moved up for a 4th consecutive session yesterday, closing at $87.72/bbl. In addition, fears of a more protracted standoff were also gaining momentum, with the 6-month Brent future (+4.44%) also up to $80.24/bbl. So that helped to revive inflation fears on both sides of the Atlantic, with the 1yr Euro inflation swap (+12.6bps) back up to 2.39% yesterday. And that in turn led to mounting speculation about central bank rate hikes, with investors pricing in a more hawkish path for the months ahead. At the Fed, pricing for a September hike moved back up to a 52% chance, up from 44% last Friday. And at the ECB, a September hike was back up to a 90% chance, up from 85% last Friday.

That backdrop of higher oil prices and rate hike speculation meant it was a tricky session for sovereign bonds around the world. This was clear across the curve, with the US 2yr yield (+4.7bps) back up to 4.24%, the 10yr yield (+6.2bps) up to 4.71%, and the 30yr yield (+5.0bps) up to 5.25%. Moreover, there were even bigger moves in Europe where the economy is more exposed to the oil shock, with 10yr yields on bunds (+4.7bps), OATs (+6.4bps) and BTPs (+6.5bps) all posting a decent rise as well. So there was a consistent picture of yields moving closer back to the highs from late-July. 

With the move higher in oil extending as the session went on, risk assets struggled to get traction, with the S&P 500 (-0.06%) seeing a marginal pull back from Friday’s all-time high. The NASDAQ (-0.32%) and Russell 2000 (-0.56%) also lost ground, though energy (+4.63%) and health care (+1.68%) sectors helped limit the S&P 500’s decline. Leading yesterday’s losses were chipmakers, with the Phily semi index dropping -2.94% after its +9.25% rebound last week.

In AI news, Intel (-4.06%) is planning a $15bn offering of new stock, which would be the chipmaker’s first share sale since 1971. And then shortly after the US close we heard Nvidia (-2.86% yesterday) announce that it is teaming up with several investment firms to mobilize $500bn “to create dedicated pools of capital at significant scale at attractive rates for Nvidia customers”. After the softer US close S&P 500 (+0.14%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.37%) futures are edging higher though.

In Europe, it was a marginally more positive story, with the STOXX 600 (+0.03%) inching up to a new record, having now posted 6 consecutive gains for the first time since May. That included a new record for the DAX (+0.02%) and the CAC 40 (+0.13%), but the FTSE 100 (-0.35%) slipped back.

Overall, risk sentiment so far this month has held up better than at the same time in recent years, as early-August has often gone hand-in-hand with downturn fears and a risk-off move. For instance, this time last year saw an underwhelming jobs report that set the stage for more Fed rate cuts in September. And two years ago we had the yen carry trade blowup, which led to huge (albeit brief) volatility before the Fed then delivered a 50bp rate cut in September. So the recent buoyancy in risk assets makes a change from the usual early-August pattern of the last few years and may have saved a few holidays, albeit with the situation in Iran still on a knife edge. 

In Asia the KOSPI is up +1.46%, but with mainland China broadly flat and the Hang Seng declining -0.60%. Japanese markets are closed today for a public holiday. In Australia the RBA has just left rates unchanged as expected as we go to press. 

Meanwhile in Japan, the yen is fairly flat after slipping back yesterday post the recent intervention, weakening -0.96% to 159.29 against the US Dollar as it fell against every other G10 currency. Over the past week the yen has now given up about half of the rally that saw it move from about 163 against the dollar just before intervention began on July 30 to an intra-day high of 155.23 on August 3.

Looking at the day ahead, it’s a quiet one on the calendar, but US data releases include existing home sales for July, and the NFIB’s small business optimism index for July.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 08:22

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

Authored by Kaizen Asiedu of Clear Thinker Academy, 

I've been in Colombia for the last three months.

Yesterday, right-wing Abelardo de la Espriella, aka "The Tiger," was sworn into office, succeeding left-wing self-proclaimed socialist Gustavo Petro.

This is what the streets of Medellín looked like when The Tiger won in June.

Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, El Salvador — all of these Latin American countries had explicitly socialist, far-left, or Marxist governments that they rejected within the last three years:

Bolivia. Last October, voters ended two decades of rule by a party named the Movement Toward Socialism.

Chile. In December, voters chose José Antonio Kast over a Communist Party candidate.

Honduras. In November, they voted out the democratic socialist party of President Xiomara Castro.

Ecuador. Rejected the heirs of Rafael Correa's socialist project for the second time in two years.

El Salvador. In 2024, the party of former Marxist guerrillas that governed for a decade — during which the country became the murder capital of the world — was wiped from the legislature entirely. Zero seats.

Peru. Two weeks ago, Keiko Fujimori was sworn in after defeating a leftist who served in the cabinet of Pedro Castillo, the Marxist president Peruvians impeached and imprisoned.

Argentina. The left-wing governments that ran the country for most of two decades nationalized the oil company, the airline, and private pension funds. Inflation passed 200%. In 2023 voters elected Javier Milei, who campaigned on reversing all of that.

Applying the socialist label can be tricky, because it's an abstract ideology.

Some will argue that a few of the examples I gave aren't socialism.

They're right — about the labels.

These movements went by different names.

Some called themselves socialists.

Some were Marxists who never used the word.

Some skipped labels entirely and just governed the same way — nationalizing industries, centralizing control.

Different branding. Same ideology: state control over the market, and wealth as something to seize and redistribute rather than create.

That's what I mean by "socialism" in this letter.

That's the worldview that the leaders of all of these countries had.

And it's what voters rejected.

It's an abstract ideology, with some variation.

I'll get more into what socialism technically is later to make things concrete.

But what wasn't abstract were the results these administrations produced: increased crime, gang violence, unchecked immigration, economic problems.

What wasn't abstract was the experience of voters who had to live with the actual results of abstract theories — and rejected them.

Meanwhile, in America — the country people fleeing socialism risk everything to reach — socialism is growing in popularity.

66% of Democrats now view socialism positively.

62% of Americans under 30 have a favorable view of socialism.

South America is moving away from socialism, after having tried it.

North America is moving toward socialism, having never tried it.

We shouldn't have to learn this lesson the hard way.

In my first month in Colombia, on my way back from Spanish class, I met a man who explains all of this better than any thinkpiece could — a deported Venezuelan who called Trump the modern-day Hitler.

But then thanked him in the same conversation.

More on that later.

Americans Don't Know What Socialism Actually Is

The problem with discussing socialism is that often when it's discussed, we're not all talking about the same thing.

Many of the Americans excited by socialism think it's defined by universal healthcare, affordable housing, free childcare.

That is incorrect.

Many Americans also think socialism is what Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) do.

That is also incorrect.

In the words of Denmark's own prime minister, from a talk he gave at Harvard in 2015: "Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy."

AKA — capitalist.

The confusion is measurable.

According to Gallup polling: in 1949, 34% of Americans defined socialism as government ownership or control of the economy, and only 2% said "benefits and services."

The 34% were correct.

By 2018, government ownership had fallen to 17% while "equality" had climbed to 23% — the single most common answer.

The word has drifted from being understood correctly as a description of how an economy operates, to a vibe about fairness.

So let's restore the definition, because clear thinking requires clear definitions.

Socialism is defined by one thing: who owns the means of production.

The "means of production" are the infrastructure used to produce goods and services — factories, land, firms, capital. Whoever owns them captures the wealth they generate.

Under capitalism, private individuals own the means of production and keep the profits.

Under socialism, that ownership is through collectives, or the government.

In practice, it's almost always the government.

That's the dividing line. Not tax rates. Not government benefits. Not wealth inequality. Not social justice.

You can have a capitalist system with high taxes, high government benefits, and low wealth inequality — that's what Scandinavian countries are.

You can also have a capitalist system with low taxes, low government benefits, and high wealth inequality — like Singapore.

Or you can have America — which is in between.

And there are socialist countries where the state controls the money, benefits are generous on paper, and inequality is low. Venezuela. Cuba.

Countries where the taxes are high, but the money doesn't actually help people.

Countries where government benefits are high on paper, but low quality in reality.

Countries where there's low wealth inequality — because everyone is poor.

Fortunately for the Latin American countries that recently rejected socialism, they cut the socialism experiment short before it wrecked them.

Some countries, like Venezuela, weren't so fortunate.

The Venezuelan Who Called Trump Hitler — and Thanked Him

While in Medellín, I met a man who was born in Venezuela and brought to America by his parents when he was a boy.

He lived in America for 34 years.

He was deported by ICE and is now homeless on the streets of Medellín.

He asked me for money, so I gave him some.

We had a conversation about his experiences.

He described Donald Trump as the modern-day Adolf Hitler.

Now you might wonder — why is a Venezuelan-born man who was deported from America living in Colombia? Why not go back to Venezuela?

Because Venezuela has been ruined by socialists.

Most Americans who want socialism, have never spoken to someone who lived under socialism.

While in Colombia, I met a man who was born in Venezuela and brought to America by his parents when he was a boy.

He lived in America for 34 years.

He was deported by ICE and now is… https://t.co/HFuNTpkLxp pic.twitter.com/LDMovGIabq

— Kaizen D. Asiedu (@thatsKAIZEN) August 9, 2026

How bad must the effect of socialism be for a man who literally thinks Trump is the new Hitler to be grateful to him for invading his country of birth and removing its leader?

I've heard this story over and over from the many Venezuelans I've met here.

Because it turns out that there are many Venezuelans in Colombia.

Because they left Venezuela.

Because of socialism.

Venezuela, which used to be a thriving society — with a capitalist system, oil wealth, and a well-educated population — is just one of the many countries that fell victim to the false promises of socialism.

And in doing so, it's impacted other countries too.

Like Colombia, which has a large population of Venezuelans looking for a better life, and now has to deal with the challenges of integrating a large foreign population fleeing socialism.

While Colombia itself suffers from the effects of guerrilla violence, which increased under Petro.

Most Americans, especially those under 30, aren't well-educated on the actual impact of socialism in history or modernity.

I've had multiple Venezuelans tell me in frustration that they see Americans who don't know anything about Venezuela standing and protesting Trump's arrest of Maduro, while those who actually lived under Maduro are thrilled to see him go.

Venezuela followed a familiar pattern:

1. Socialists and Marxists promise people abundant free services and equity, and get in power.
2. They redistribute wealth — through taxes, seizures, and state revenues.
3. They replace private industry with government control.
4. Initially, things seem to be going well.
5. Over time, less wealth is created, because private industry is always better than government at creating wealth.
6. Over time, the public sector goes from being controlled by the people to being controlled by the bureaucrats.
7. Bureaucrats continue to seize control, because the people don't have economic leverage (the wealth has been seized) and don't have physical leverage (they don't have weapons).
8. Removal of the bureaucrats becomes impossible without force — which the people no longer have.

At least everyone is equal now — equally poor.

Socialism hasn't just "not been done right."

It almost certainly can't work, because it destroys the source of wealth it seeks to redistribute.

I say "almost" because there's a nonzero chance technology someday makes massive, efficient government possible.

Unless today's socialists have a secret AI model that can do this — that day is not today.

"But That's Not Real Socialism"

Most of these countries never completed the conversion to socialism.

That doesn't mean socialism wasn't tried. An ideology is tried whenever the people who hold it get power — and it's judged by what they do with it.

Petro said it plainly in 2025: "I am a socialist." He never made Colombia socialist. His worldview still ran the country for four years.

Mamdani is running New York right now. If the city declines under him, "but New York never became fully socialist" will not be a defense of socialism. A socialist with power, governing from a socialist worldview — that is socialism being tried, whether or not the conversion completes.

That's what happened across Latin America.

Voters didn't reject an abstract ideology.

They rejected its concrete results.

And the deeper the conversion went, the worse it got — Venezuela went furthest and fell hardest.

"It just needed more time" is not the lesson.

The reverse objection comes from the other direction: "Norway's government owns oil companies, so Norway is socialist."

No. Socialism is when public ownership is the rule. A few state-owned companies are the exception that proves the rule — Alaska has oil revenue too.

How to Talk Someone Out of Socialism Without Losing Them

I'm writing a lot about socialism because I think it's a bad idea.

That said, simply calling something a bad idea doesn't change people's minds.

Many of you have friends or family who find socialism appealing.

Here are some concrete instructions to help you in those conversations.

First. Never argue against socialism in the abstract. You'll both lose. Do this instead.

Step one: ask them to define it. "When you say socialism, what do you mean by that?" Nine times out of ten you'll hear: healthcare people can afford, housing people can afford, childcare, education.

Step two: agree with the goals. Sincerely — assuming you share them, and I do. "I want people to have healthcare and housing they can afford too." You've just converted a duel into a collaboration. Most political conversations die before this sentence gets said.

Step three: offer the actual definition. "Can I share what socialism technically means? It's about who owns the farms, factories, grocery stores, and companies that produce everything. Socialism moves that ownership from entrepreneurs and businesses to centralized control — usually the government. The question it answers is who owns production, rather than which services people receive."

Step four (if they bring up Scandinavia): "The countries you're pointing to are market economies with strong safety nets — funded by taxing private wealth creation. Their own leaders insist on this. So what you might want is better capitalism — and that, we can build."

Step five: only now, the evidence. Venezuela, where socialism went all the way. A continent's rejections everywhere it went partway. Presented as data to consider, rather than as a gotcha.

We practice conversational strategies like this in Clear Thinker Academy, and help people be honest without losing relationships.

If you'd rather train these skills than just read about them, that's what the Academy is for: clearthinkeracademy.com

The Fix: Revert to the Previous Working Version of Capitalism

The worst way to fight socialism is to defend the current version of capitalism. The current version is the recruiting poster for socialism.

What we're running now is captured capitalism.

Since Citizens United, outside political spending exploded from $574 million in 2008 to $4.5 billion in 2024.

A single billionaire matched the combined donations of three million small donors.

Corporations shipped labor abroad, institutional investors outbid families for starter homes, and the rules are increasingly written by the industries they're supposed to govern.

Young people conclude the game is rigged because, in the ways that touch their lives most, it is.

Socialism's appeal is a symptom. Captured capitalism is the disease.

And the cure isn't even theoretical.

We can start by just reverting to the previous working version of capitalism.

In 1996, socialism had no constituency in this country.

Because capitalism was delivering: rising wages, attainable homes, a middle class that could plan a future.

That system — markets that compete, a government that isn't totally for sale — was the last working version, and restoring it is a repair job: through campaign finance reform and smarter laws so more housing can be built.

The way to beat socialism is to give people a capitalism worth keeping.

Know a Tree by Its Fruits

You don't need history books to evaluate socialism anymore.

You don't even need a passport.

You can go look at the results in the present day — or talk to the people in America who escaped them.

The evidence is alive, it speaks Spanish, and for three years it has been voting — in country after country — against socialism.

An entire continent tried this worldview at every level of intensity and is climbing out of the hole.

America needn't stand at the edge of that hole, asking what would happen if we jumped in too.

Find more here on Clear Thinker... 

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

My Two-for-Tuesday morning reads:

• The Housing Recession is Over: The vibes remain bad, the recovery is uneven, but recession is now behind us. Conor Sen thought 2026 was the year housing cracked — Florida, Texas and Arizona were carrying 20% to 30% more listings than the same point pre-pandemic, and the number was still climbing. He is calling it the other way now. (Conor Sen)

• Private Credit Is Under Growing Strain, Despite Industry’s Upbeat Tone: Default rates are hitting recent highs, and internal reviews of loan health point to tougher times ahead, a WSJ analysis shows. Default rates are hitting recent highs, and internal reviews of loan health point to tougher times ahead. (Wall Street Journal) see also Private Equity Is Stuck With 33,575 Unsold Businesses: Even amid a booming deal-making environment, private equity firms are unable to exit a growing number of investments at values their investors require. The exit math is not working. A number that size is not a backlog, it is a structural problem for the entire asset class. (New York Times)

• Making it to New All-Time Highs: The world is awash in negativity, and every week brings a fresh reason to get scared out of stocks. The record highs keep arriving anyway. To reach new highs again and again in the 2020s investors have had to ignore: A global pandemic. The fastest 30%+ drawdown in history. A supply chain crisis. Meme stock mania. A 40-year high inflation rate of 9%. Russia invading Ukraine. 73 crash predictions from Robert Kiyosaki. 19 Michael Burry top calls… (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• The Everyday Guide to Supersizing Your Retirement Account: There are a number of tricks to grow a tax-advantaged 401(k) or IRA into a fortune. The mechanical tricks for turning a tax-advantaged 401(k) or IRA into something considerably larger than the contribution limits suggest. (Wall Street Journal)

• Record Profits, Terrible Service: Something’s Got to Give for US Consumers: An interactive on the widening gap between what American companies are earning and what customers are actually getting. Experts say consolidation and market power have left consumers paying more for less (The Guardian)

• America’s Capital of Homebuying Regret: Austin, spring 2022: Ryan McPherson and his wife bid $20,000 over ask to reach $615,000 on a four-bedroom, and wrote the sellers a heartfelt letter to close the deal. Prices have gone the other way since. Meet the Texas homeowners who are deep in the red thanks to Austin’s long, painful real estate hangover (Business Insider)

• Kill the Ticks: America needs a bigger plan to control its tick problem. “The ticks are winning,” a CDC scientist wrote in a recent paper. To put it even more bluntly, humans are losing and are on the retreat. (The Atlantic)

• It’s the Summer of Purse Guys: Ashley Fetters Maloy on the handbag as punctuation mark, and what happens when men — sidelined by a few centuries of pockets in menswear — start carrying one. For years, men have talked themselves out of one of fashion’s greatest inventions. This summer, cool guys are embracing bags, from the huge to the itty bitty. (Washington Post)

• July was the hottest month in the US since records began in 1895: The month featured long, intense heat domes that led to record hot temperatures from the East Coast to the Plains and Southwestern states. NOAA’s temperature records date back to 1895. Andrew Freedman on long, intense heat domes that set records from the East Coast through the Plains and Southwest. Large wildfires were burning across the Pacific Northwest and Canada by month’s end, mirroring Europe’s hottest summer on record. (CNN)

• Loss is a Bitch: No matter how much I try, I’m sad more than I realize: A burned-out writer takes a few days off the keyboard, and his wife suggests he write something personal instead. What comes back are memories he had stopped questioning.  (The Omission)

Video of the day: India’s Youth Are Angry. Here’s Why

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business with Jack Raines, a writer and venture capitalist. We discuss his new book, Young Money.

 

War Is Helping Chinese EVs Upend the Global Car Market

Source: Wall Street Journal

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

The post 10 Tuesday AM Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Retired Syrian General Who Fought ISIS 'Disappears' Inside Embassy In Beirut

Via The Cradle

A retired Syrian general who commanded forces fighting ISIS was abducted by personnel from the Syrian embassy in Lebanon, Al-Akhbar reported on Saturday.

Adel Issa, an Alawite brigadier general from Tartous, entered the Syrian embassy in Beirut at 12:30 pm on Friday to arrange a power of attorney for a relative. His Syrian driver waited outside for him, but he never returned. As his driver waited outside, a car with several young men stopped and demanded that the driver hand over the retired general's phone, claiming they needed to register his passport.

Syrian Embassy in Beirut

The driver waited for Issa until 4:30 pm before going to the embassy entrance to inquire about him. A Lebanese guard prevented him from entering, telling him the embassy had closed an hour before.

After persisting, the driver was able to speak with an embassy employee who told him that Issa had left the embassy 20 minutes earlier. This surprised the driver, as Issa never came out of the embassy to have the driver take him home.

The driver then informed the general's family of the incident. They began making calls to locate him, but his phone was switched off after 3:30 pm.

The family contacted several Lebanese organizations for help in determining his fate, fearing he might have been illegally detained at the embassy, ​​given his status as an Alawite officer in the deposed government of Bashar al-Assad. There were also fears that he might be transferred to Syria and subjected to torture.

Since the fall of Assad's government in October 2024, Syria's new authorities, led by the former Al-Qaeda leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, have detained thousands of Alawite officers from the former army. 

Syrian authorities claim they are detained for committing war crimes during the 14-year war that began in 2011. However, in practice they are typically detained based on their religious identity as Alawites.

According to a December 2025 report by Reuters, Syria's prisons are overflowing with Alawite men who are held without trial and often tortured.

Al-Akhbar notes that Brigadier General Issa had retired more than six years ago. He continued to live in Tartous and move around Syria without being pursued by the new authorities.

He gave a statement before a Syrian court a few months ago regarding a financial dispute with someone without being arrested or prosecuted, as there was no warrant or legal case against him. However, roughly one month ago, a group of unknown armed men raided Issa's home and inquired about him.

#Syria/#Lebanon: Following the scandal reported by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar over the Syrian Embassy’s abduction and detention of Syrian citizens, the embassy admitted yesterday that retired officer Adel Issa had been held inside the embassy. Embassy staff then handed him… https://t.co/WEkW2aF9TW pic.twitter.com/IgDK7k0H9N

— Syria Justice Archive (@SyJusticeArc) August 9, 2026

Issa was unable to determine whether the armed men were from the official Syrian security forces or from an armed faction affiliated with the new government but operating outside the chain of command. As a result, Issa decided to leave Syrian territory for Lebanon.

The Syrian Justice Archive (SJA) noted that after news emerged of the detention of the retired general, an attempt was made to cover up his abduction at the embassy and make it appear as if it was part of a legal process.

Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat claimed that Lebanese authorities had arrested Issa and requested his judicial file from their Syrian counterparts to decide whether to hand him over to Syrian authorities. SJA notes that the evidence indicates that Issa was taken by Syrian embassy personnel, not by Lebanese prosecutors or police.

"If Syria wanted his arrest and extradition, the proper procedure would have been for the Syrian Prosecutor General to formally request his arrest and handover through the Lebanese authorities, not for him to be abducted while visiting the embassy after legally leaving Syria," SJA stated.

The Syrian embassy admitted later on Saturday that Issa had been held inside the embassy and that embassy staff then handed him over to Lebanese security authorities after he had spent more than a day detained inside the embassy.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Issa commanded the Syrian army's 17th Division. In 2015, he was given command of all Syrian ground forces in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq, before he retired in late 2016.

Under Issa's command, the 17th Division was responsible for protecting Deir Ezzor from ISIS, of which self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa's armed group, the Nusra Front, is an offshoot. The Nusra Front was later rebranded as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Another scandal emerged last week when journalist Lindsey Snell reported that the Nusra Front member, Mohamad Qanatari, who had kidnapped her in northern Syria in 2016, had been named as charge d'affaires to the Syrian Embassy in Washington.

My interview with the Syrian chargé d'affaires to the US back when he was a member of Jabhat al-Nusra. pic.twitter.com/g0NSaH1WUp

— Lindsey Snell (@LindseySnell) July 28, 2026

In 2012, Nusra was designated as a terrorist group by both the UN and the US State Department, despite covert US support for the group. Since HTS and Sharaa came to power, the US government has openly embraced members of the former terror group, including Sharaa himself, who visited the White House to meet US President Donald Trump in November 2025.

SJA reports that another disturbing incident involving the Syrian embassy in Beirut occurred earlier this week when a Syrian social media influencer, Hussein Abdul Qader al-Ahmad, was abducted after making a video for social media in front of the embassy.

In the video, Ahmad criticized the new extremist-dominated Syrian authorities, including President Sharaa – who formerly went by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani and is well known for dispatching suicide bombers and car bombs to kill thousands of civilians in Iraq and Syria.

After his abduction at the Lebanese-Syrian border, Ahmad appeared on Syrian government media in detention with visible marks on his forehead, suggesting that he was subjected to abuse or torture. He is now detained on charges of “insulting state symbols” and “provoking the feelings of Syrians.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 03:30

North Korea Battles Record Heat By Prescribing Dog Soup And Propaganda

In "that's enough internet for today" news...

North Korea has apparently found the answer to record-breaking summer heat: dog-meat soup, chicken broth and stories about how hard Kim Jong Un sweats, according to Reuters.

Pyongyang hit 98 degrees, on Thursday, which state media said was the highest temperature recorded in the capital. With tropical nights piling up, the regime has rolled out an unusually enthusiastic summer survival guide.

Some advice is straightforward: watermelon, cucumbers, mung beans and plenty of fluids. Then things get considerably more North Korean.

A doctor quoted by the ruling party’s Rodong Sinmun recommended “nutritious foods” including fish porridge, red-bean porridge and dog-meat soup, traditionally believed to help people endure summer heat.

The newspaper even published a separate feature celebrating dog-meat soup, reviving an old saying that soup spilled on your foot during the summer dog days “becomes medicine.” North Korea also held a national dog-meat cooking competition earlier this year, because apparently it's important there that someone determines who is the best at cooking dog.

For less adventurous diners, state media promoted samgyetang, a chicken soup stuffed with ginseng, rice and jujubes. Television broadcasts also offered advice on hydration, swimming and outdoor exercise.

According to Reuters no North Korean weather emergency would be complete without reminding everyone that Kim Jong Un is also very hot, possibly hotter than you.

State media recycled stories of Kim heroically sweating through previous summers, including a 2013 construction-site inspection where his clothes supposedly became soaked. Other reports recalled him trudging through mountains and rain in 2018 and inspecting a seafood factory in temperatures reportedly reaching 39°C.

What Kim is actually doing during this heat wave was conspicuously absent. North Korea has disclosed no heat-related death figures, while neighboring South Korea has reported more than 20.

So the official North Korean summer survival plan appears simple: drink water, eat some soup and, if things get unbearable, remember that the Supreme Leader once perspired at a construction site.

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

"He Flipped": Family Warned Police Before Man With 9 Priors Filmed Street Attacks

Relatives of a Charlotte man accused of attacking women in public say his behavior had become increasingly unpredictable and violent, prompting them to contact authorities before his arrest, according to the New York Post.

32 year old Di-Quan Schafar Hunt was taken into custody Thursday after disturbing videos circulated on social media showing confrontations with women on Charlotte streets.

According to Hunt’s sister, the problems extended beyond the incidents captured on video. She said relatives had witnessed violent behavior within the family and had previously called police because they were concerned about him.

The Post writes that the family believes Hunt has been diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder and says he has not been taking medication. His sister said they had repeatedly tried to find help for him and are now concerned about the possibility of his returning to the community without treatment.

Hunt also has an extensive arrest record, with at least nine previous arrests reported.

Videos connected to the latest case appear to show Hunt confronting women without warning. In one clip, a woman is knocked to the ground as Hunt shouts at her. Another shows a woman being shoved before Hunt pursues her around a vehicle.

His sister said she turned over video evidence to police and later helped officers locate him.

While expressing concern about her brother’s condition, she also said the women involved deserve justice and acknowledged that the situation has created fear for Hunt’s own family.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 19:40

My First Encounter With Trans

Authored by Richard C. Crandall via American Thinker,

My first encounter with trans was in the early 1950s, when Christine Jorgensen became the first widely known person to undergo "sex reassignment" surgery. I remember some of my peers mocking Christine by threatening to swap the feminine lips and masculine mustache between Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. After some laughter, eye-rolling, and snide smiles, seven-year-olds settled the issue: It was ridiculous - we called it crazy - to believe that Mr. Potato Head could become Mrs. Potato Head any more than a man could become a woman.

The trans issue reemerged with the Reimer twins, Bruce and Brian. In the 1960s, during what was supposed to be a routine circumcision, Bruce's penis was destroyed. Dr. John Money at Johns Hopkins University saw an opportunity to demonstrate that sex roles are a blank slate at birth and are shaped by culture, not genetics. He convinced Bruce's parents that with surgery, hormones, and therapy, Bruce could be successfully transitioned to female. Bruce was castrated, given hormones, renamed Brenda, and not told that he had once been Bruce. From the beginning, "Brenda" didn't like acting like a girl. He tore off his dresses and played with his twin brother's toys more than his own. After applying makeup, Brenda said he looked like a clown. By his early teens, Brenda was confused, depressed, lonely, and suicidal. When Brenda was finally told that he was Bruce, he realized that he was normal and that those trying to turn him into a female were the problem. Brenda became David, underwent penile reconstruction, a double mastectomy, and hormone treatment and married a woman.

For years after "Brenda" became David, Dr. Money claimed that Bruce's transition to Brenda was successful. After the truth came out, I again thought the trans issue was resolved. However, in what can only be described as a new level of hell, swapping parts between Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head has been replaced by dolls that allow children to swap internal and external sexual parts.

I hold the same view I did at age seven. I will reconsider my stance when trans advocates agree to the following conditions.

First, we can change our race. Whites who claim to be black or Native American are called race hoaxers, even though some have demonstrated substantial knowledge of and connection to their new race. A recent example involves a white woman who received injections to darken her skin and surgeries to enlarge her lips. She plans to undergo butt augmentation and surgery to widen her nose. She feels that she is black, even though she is told she will never be black. But if all it takes for a man to be a woman are feelings and mutilating surgery, shouldn't this woman's feelings and surgeries make her black?

Second, we can change our age. If the sex listed on a birth certificate can be altered based on feelings, why not the date of birth? Many people feel younger or older than their chronological age, and some even undergo surgery to look and feel younger. If feelings, rather than biology, determine one's sex, shouldn't they also determine age?

Third, we can be both sexes. Recently, a judge ruled that a man who doesn't identify exclusively as male or female can have a surgically created vagina in the space between his scrotum and anus. And just in time, we have sologamy, "the practice of marrying oneself." Would this be a heterosexual marriage?

Fourth, we can change our species. Individuals who feel they are reptiles tattoo their hands and faces to resemble snake or lizard scales. Those who want to become snakes undergo surgery to remove their ears and noses and have their teeth filed to resemble fangs. Those who identify as lizards have their fingers and thumbs amputated, leaving claw-like hands. They have also had their tongues surgically altered to look forked. If removing a penis and testicles transforms a man into a woman, then does removing ears and fingers transform a human into a reptile?

Fifth, we can become space aliens. To achieve this transformation, one man tattooed his body black and removed his upper lip, nose, and ears. Another man, in addition to full-body tattoos, cut off some fingers, his ears, and part of his nose. A third man has full-body tattoos and fangs. He also chopped off a finger on one hand and had the other hand surgically altered so that his fingers remain in a permanent "V" formation. Again, if feelings and mutilation can change a man into a woman, then don't feelings and bodily mutilation transform someone into a space alien?

Sixth, we can choose our nationality. If men who feel they are women are allowed to use women's bathrooms and locker rooms, then shouldn't people who feel they are of a certain nationality be allowed to live in the country they feel they belong to?

Seventh, it would be easier to adjust feelings to match the existing body than to mutilate the body to match feelings. Why do trans proponents accept only chemical and surgical mutilation to align the body with feelings when it is more rational and humane to use therapy to adjust feelings to align with one's sex?

Eighth, feeling the desire to amputate a healthy arm or leg is abnormal. Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) is a condition in which the body does not match how someone feels it should look. This goes beyond simply feeling that one's nose is too big or one's breasts are too small. Individuals with BID feel they have too many arms or legs, leading them to want the problematic limb amputated. Others with BID may wish to be paralyzed or to lose their hearing or sight. If chopping off a healthy arm is abnormal, then isn't removing healthy sexual organs also abnormal?

Ninth, we can belong to the ethnic group of our choice. Shouldn't feelings be enough to belong to an ethnic group?

Tenth, we don't need to accept and accommodate individuals' feelings about their identities. If a man who feels he is a woman also feels he is a queen, do we need to accommodate his feelings by addressing him as "Your Majesty" and bowing to him?

Eleventh, the feelings of trans people do not supersede those of people who believe trans people are mentally ill. Trans people demand that others tolerate their feelings, yet they don't tolerate others' feelings. We have seen men who look like men but feel they are women become unhinged when addressed as "sir" rather than "ma'am." There is the same lack of tolerance for those who feel that men pretending to be women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. They are even incapable of tolerating a T-shirt featuring the logo "XY ≠ XX." If trans people don't respect others' feelings, then can't others disrespect the feelings of trans people?

Feelings do not change reality, and the reality is that there are no Joseph Mengele, Dr. Moreau, Dr. Fauci, or Dr. Frankenstein medical procedures that can turn us into space aliens, reptiles, or the opposite sex.

Image via Pexels.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 19:15

Study Finds 93% Of Avocado Oil Chips Contain Other Oils. There Is A Solution ...

A new University of California, Davis, study found that a shocking number of avocado oil-labeled chips at the supermarket, marketed as a healthier alternative to toxic seed-oil chips, might not be made with pure avocado oil and, in fact, contain other oils.

UC Davis researchers tested 54 avocado oil-labeled products purchased from California supermarkets and online retailers in 2025 and 2026 and found that 48, or 89%, contained cheaper oils despite being labeled as containing premium avocado oil. The failure rate included 93% of chips, and beyond the snack aisle, 71% of mayonnaise products and 100% of salad dressings tested also failed.

"Consumers are increasingly paying a premium for products made with avocado oil or olive oil," lead author Selina Wang, Professor of Cooperative Extension in the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology, stated in a press release. "They deserve to get what they pay for and food manufacturers deserve confidence that the ingredients they purchase from suppliers are authentic."

The Trump administration helped propel the MAHA movement into the mainstream, prompting millions of consumers to reevaluate what's actually in their food, including the widespread use of seed oils amid study after study showing potential health effects:

• The Facts About Seed Oils And Your Health
• Cooking Oils Used By Millions Linked To Cancer In Second Study In A Week

Results by brand:

There is only one real solution here: take control of what you eat. We've long believed that winning the information war starts with properly fueling the brain, which means getting back to real food and cutting out as much ultra-processed junk as you can.

And if you're still going to snack on a bag of chips, why not just keep it super simple? Potatoes cooked the old-fashioned way in actual grass-fed beef tallow. No mystery oils. No ingredient-label guessing games. Just a better chip.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 18:50

FBI Working With DHS, ODNI On Election Integrity: FBI Director

Authored by Frank Fang and Jan Jekielek via The Epoch Times,

The FBI worked with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on the recent disclosure by President Donald Trump on foreign influence on U.S. elections, agency director Kash Patel said.

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during an interview at the FBI headquarters in Washington on Aug. 4, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

During an interview with EpochTV's "American Thought Leaders," aired on Aug. 8, Patel said the three agencies worked as partners, but the FBI played a smaller role, while DHS and ODNI had the technical capabilities and a remit focused more on overseas incidents involving U.S. election infrastructure.

"We shared our information. We made a lot of our information public through President Trump's speech the other week," Patel said.

Patel said the three agencies acted at Trump's direction.

"I think the president was right to go to the nation and the world and put forth this information, but it was only possible because the president directed us to declassify and divulge this information to the American public and the world," Patel said.

In a primetime address on July 16, Trump announced the declassification of documents that showed China had illicitly acquired 220 million U.S. voter files, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and other information.

"This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare," Trump said during the address.

Trump did not explicitly claim that China altered the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

China began targeting him in an operation in 2018, Trump said, citing a CIA report that described an effort to "reduce [his] votes and make him resign or prevent his reelection."

The CIA report found "China was working to influence the results of the U.S. midterm elections, and later the results of the 2020 presidential election itself," according to Trump.

In 2019, China had a strategy focusing on "undermining domestic confidence in the U.S. president," Trump added.

"They wanted to just make [it] sound like your president wasn't so hot when actually your president has done a great job," he said.

That strategy included influencing U.S. business leaders to turn against him, Trump said.

"The Chinese government sought to identify U.S. journalists who had reported negatively on the U.S. president and pay them large sums of money to write more negative articles about him, as many as they could," he said.

The declassified documents included a CIA wire memo from July 2000, which included information from the FBI, showing that the Chinese Communist Party was targeting "personal e-mail accounts of senior US leadership, including officials in the Executive Office of the President and high-ranking officials in multiple Executive Branch organizations, Congress, and the federal judiciary."

Separately, a National Intelligence Council report found that "Beijing has expanded its cyber collection of data related to the 2020 US elections by carrying out opportunistic intrusions against US private-sector entities in efforts to collect information on US political candidates, campaigns, donors, and voter data."

Trump's claim on China's election interference by targeting American voter registration data was backed by the heads of the ODNI, the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security, according to a White House fact sheet released on July 30.

In September 2025, Patel discussed China's threats extensively during a hearing before the House Committee on the Judiciary.

China "presents the greatest and most sophisticated cyber threat to U.S. public safety and national security," Patel said, according to written testimony.

He singled out one particular Chinese threat group, "Salt Typhoon," which had breached the networks of multiple telecommunications companies in the United States and elsewhere.

Patel also noted in his written testimony that all 55 of his agency's field offices had active Chinese counterintelligence investigations.

"This calendar year alone, as I was mentioning, our counterintelligence operations and cases brought against the Chinese are up by something like 40 percent," Patel told House lawmakers at the hearing.

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] has deliberately created an environment that abuses global interconnectedness and encourages intellectual property theft, using human intelligence officers, corrupt corporate insiders, and reckless and indiscriminate cyber intrusions," Patel stated in his written testimony.

Watch the full 'American Thought Leaders' interview below, covering a great deal more than election integrity:

00:00 Intro 
1:31 World Cup Security 
4:17 Scam Centers & Operation Blackout 
6:55 Pig Butchering Scams 
11:25 Slaves in Scam Compounds 
13:19 Why's the FBI Working with China's MPS? 
19:00 How Does the FBI Get the Money Back?
23:41 Advice to Viewers on Scams 
26:00 Chinese Interference in 2020 Election
28:26 Removal of Spies 
31:42 CCP Targeting Americans with Security Clearances 
35:26 Tackling Transnational Repression
38:40 Terrorist Attacks Thwarted
41:26 What is the Director's Strategic Information Center (DSIC)?
44:33 Major Reforms at the FBI 

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 17:00

Trump Shares Hillary Clinton Op-Ed Backing His Gaza Plan In Face Of Bibi Rejection

President Trump is currently experiencing a rare moment of his plans for the Mideast region being rejected on multiple fronts - even among allies, apparently. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over weekend rejected a US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza, which marks a rare and very glaring public break with Trump.

Netanyahu was surprisingly up front in acknowledging the complete break in policy vision from the White House. "Contrary to all those who preach to us, we do what must be done for Israel’s security and we can and will stand our ground even against our best friends when necessary," he stated.

He said he was confronting a "wave of rumors about Israeli weakness and Israeli withdrawals on all fronts" and made clear that Israel won't succumb to ongoing US pressure to end wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran - unless Israel decides it is in its security interest.

Anadolu/Getty Images

Netanyahu was explicit on rejecting Trump's Board of Peace plan which was presented in July:

"Israel rejects the 15-point document," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, speaking in Hebrew. "The IDF will not make any withdrawal until Hamas is truly disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and citizens."

A Hamas statement in the meantime stood by the plan. It said the group "affirms its commitment" to Trump's 15-point plan for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel, "and establishing a clear timetable for their implementation."

"We call upon the mediators, guarantors, and the Peace Council to assume their responsibilities, ensure the commitment of all parties to what has been agreed upon, and prevent any violations or breaches that could disrupt the implementation process or undermine the ceasefire agreement," the Hamas statement added.

Even CNN has picked up on the fact that Netanyahu - whose government receives literally billions of dollars in US funds and arms each year - has been unusually blunt in his rejection of Trump's big initiative:

On tricky issues, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s preference is to kick the can down the road. If he must take a position, he likes to include a twist of ambiguity, some wiggle room, just in case things get hairy later. Not this time, though, on the subject of US President Donald Trump’s roadmap for progressing the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

While the Israeli leader risks facing the wrath of Trump, it has been about a full day since reports of the glaring Israeli rebuff have emerged, and yet there's been no immediate Truth Social diatribe or statement calling out Bibi.

And now the Middle East strategy "Ls" are piling up, the same outlet observes:

The US president – more desperate than ever for a win, as his Iran folly looks increasingly like handing him an L – reinvested in Gaza 10 days ago, declaring that his Board of Peace had reached a “historic agreement” with Hamas for its complete disarmament. The board’s top envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, went on to explain carefully on X that decommissioning would need to take place “in lockstep” with Israeli troop withdrawal, suggesting a phased process by which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would pull back in stages from positions inside Gaza, as Hamas turned in its arms.

It could be that Netanyahu too sees Trump up against the ropes when it comes to the Middle East, and views this as an opportunity to assert Israel's 'least-bad option'.

Again, Trump has remained quiet on the Netanyahu issue, but surprisingly presented 'validation' from an unlikely source - former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said she supported his Gaza plan.

She argued in an op-ed that there is no alternative to Trump's Gaza plan, and that she's still able to acknowledge this despite being an "implacable opponent of the president".

Perhaps Trump might be telling himself that Netanyahu's public betrayal is just an "election thing" and so he must speak primarily to domestic voters, given the country's general election is just under 12 weeks away.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 16:40

Democrats' Frankenstein Turns: Communist Ghost Dance Now Set To Devour The Party

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

"Kill them. Murder them. Let the streets soak in their red capitalist blood.”

- Hasan Piker

You can’t overstate the power of ideas, especially bad ideas, and super-especially bad ideas that are really just manifestations of emotional states such as envy, vengefulness, enmity, sloth, and greed. Did somebody say communism? A lot of people are saying it lately. This garbage barge of management nostrums for the ills of advanced industrial society has steamed back into New York Harbor and is busy now dispatching its agents across the land.

It’s yet another youth movement in an America which cultivates them at regular intervals associated with Fourth Turnings. I happened to be in college during the last one, the hippie rebellion of the late 1960s. It was mostly adolescent sexual energy tinged with resentment over the military draft and the war that went with it, plus a lot of marketing opportunities for music and clothing.

The US economy back then was still a roaring industrial engine. The comforts of that bygone time are legendary. You could easily support a family on an assembly-line job. College was cheap as hell — my State U charged about $500-a-year for tuition and room-and-board. (Imagine that!) You could hide-out from the draft there, too. The new birth-control pill turned campus life into a non-stop orgy with classes for R & R. Is it any wonder that the hippies morphed so easily into hedge funders?

This time around it’s pretty ugly for the youth demographic. College for them turned out to be a life-altering swindle, burdening the young with unpayable loans that can’t even be escaped via bankruptcy. Even the sex angle was ruined by vindictive feminism and the trans fad. Work is scarce and it’s nearly impossible to make a living at it, that is, pay for food and a roof over your head (and, ugh, those loan repayments!). Plus, work is mostly found only in meaningless service to despotic corporations. The most enterprising might land a job in an NGO, but the work there is “activism,” which is pretend work, productive of nothing but the acting-out of grievances.

These grievances, it has been noted by many high-toned observers like VDH, are real enough to provoke a desperate reach for remedies, and communism is a ready-made portfolio for all that. In the 1960s, we still had the reverberations of the civil rights crusade setting a basic moral tone for hippiedom. But fifty years later, that has all mutated into a race-and-gender hustle that adds so much piquancy to the recycled communist agenda. (Note that a hustle is a low-grade racket, and a racket is an effort to get something for nothing.)

So, today’s communist program is not just a war against the injustices of capital, but a jihad against the Western Civ horse that capital rode in on, and most particularly the white horseman up in the saddle.

Kotkin’s explanation of why socialism is attractive to the young and the intellectuals feels very accurate, especially what he says about the young in the first thirty seconds. https://t.co/JvuDLE2pwS

— Clifford Asness (@CliffordAsness) August 9, 2026

Hasan Piker, the present guru and demigod of the movement, put it pretty plainly in a Twitch-stream a few years back when he was rising to stardom on Uncle Cenk Uygur’s Young Turk Network.

“We want more immigrants to come into your countries and then they’re gonna fuck your sisters and then your daughters — we’re here to destroy the White race, bitch.”

Piker is also a leading amplifier of Jew-hatred and other calumnies such as the USA “deserved” the 9/11 attacks. Apropos of our action in Iran, Piker quipped, American soldiers should be shot at like cattle (link).

Piker is rumored to have earned over $6-million on Twitch. He’s quite tall (6’4”) ripped, and a snappy dresser, often sporting old-fashioned sport-jackets with a necktie (dress for success?) and is probably catnip to the cat ladies of Gen Z, who comprise the bulk of the activist corps of the rising Gen Z Democratic Socialists - as the communists have styled themselves to avoid stimulating any action around the Communist Control Act of 1954 (50 U.S.C. §§ 841–844), which categorizes the Communist Party per se as “an instrumentality of a conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States.”

The dapper Hasan Piker, dressed for success

Altogether, Hasan Piker and the Democratic Socialists pose quite a vexing problem for the pathetic, old, square, bloviating chuds in the Democratic Party of the Chuck Schumer / Cory Booker ilk. Other bloggers (e.g., Jeff Childers at Coffee & Covid) have observed that Democratic Socialism is the monster that the Dems have been working on sedulously for more than a decade in their Frankenstein lab of Gramscian cultural overthrow. The monster has escaped and is now out on the highways and in the hedges terrorizing the public.

You are surely aware that the entire regular agenda of the Democratic Party has for some time been patently insane. They are still wasting the nation’s patience with debates over the self-evident idiocy of men in women’s sports, resistance to the deportation of illegal immigrants, and their obviously evil opposition to voter ID. Communism is just the icing on that fruitcake. The recent primary election victories of such prodigies as Abdul El-Sayed, Melat Kiros, and Darializa Avila Chevalier, along with the ongoing capers of Mayor Zohran Mamdani pretending to govern New York City, must be giving the old guard the vapors.

And yet, the most pathetic actual commie among them, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Jewish, Israel-hating alte kocker, abides and even thrives in his new role as Godfather to this hatch of larval communist youth. This is Bernie’s revenge on the party that robbed him of two presidential nominations.

He’s doing what all good Jacobins do — what they live for! He has sentenced his old comrades of the DNC to death. He’s stuffing his old enemies into the tumbrel and carting them off to the public square for execution.

They can see it coming and it’s giving them the heebie-jeebies.

And finally, of course, the Mamdanis and El-Sayeds and their spawn will come for Bernie, too, leaving only AOC in the ensanguinated ruins to become America’s Eva Perón.

Wait for that!

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/10/2026 - 16:20