Tehran At The Crossroads: Iran's Civilian Leaders Call For Peace Amid Crippling U.S. Blockade

Iran's top civilian officials are publicly urging an end to the ongoing conflict with the United States, exposing a deepening internal rift as they attempt to rein in hardliners who champion continued resistance.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a visit to the shrine of the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in southern Tehran, Iran, January 31, 2026

The financial and social toll of the U.S. blockade is proving too severe to ignore - as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently declared that the country cannot endure a state of perpetual limbo, though he cautioned against making concessions that would appear humiliating on the global stage.

"The war must come to an end at some point," Pezeshkian stated in a Friday address, according to state media. "It is better that we demonstrate our strength and dignity today and tell the world that we have won and that we are ending the war."

President Donald Trump has maintained a relentless blockade on the Islamic Republic after a previous memorandum of understanding imploded - effectively severing the regime's ability to export oil - its primary source of income. This has plunged Iran into a domestic crisis characterized by skyrocketing inflation and an increasingly desperate cost-of-living crisis. The pressure is expected to intensify further this week, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepares to unveil what President Trump has characterized as an "economic D-Day."

While the exact nature of these punitive measures remains classified, Bessent has strongly signaled the implementation of sweeping secondary sanctions targeting any nation that continues to do business with Tehran.

A Regime Divided

The push for diplomacy from Iran's civilian government stands in stark contrast to the shifting power dynamics among its clerics and military elite. Pezeshkian claims his diplomatic push aligns with the broader goals of the regime, referencing past speeches by Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei - who has conspicuously vanished from the public eye since the conflict escalated.

"I was in the presence of the Supreme Leader, and in his speeches as well, he openly stated that we must move beyond this state of 'neither war nor peace,'" Pezeshkian noted. "We are not going to humiliatingly back down before the enemy or bow our heads. We can sit down with strength, but also with logic, and resolve our problems."

Prior to his public absence, Khamenei had elevated hardline factions who favor military confrontation over the moderates seeking a renewed deal with Washington. Despite this, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf echoed the President's warnings, underscoring the severe national security risks of a collapsing economy.

"No matter how much military power we have, if our people are struggling and the country lacks financial circulation and economic growth, we will not achieve progress," Ghalibaf stated. "As someone who has experienced war, I understand the true value of peace."

Washington's Stance: The "Right Deal"

The Trump administration's distrust stems from the fraught history of recent negotiations, during which U.S. officials reported receiving deeply conflicting signals from Tehran. The previous agreement shattered after Iran launched a series of strikes on maritime vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz.

For the United States, the objectives remain twofold and uncompromising: Nuclear Prevention: Ensuring Iran permanently loses the capacity to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon. Maritime Security: The full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to global trade.

Currently, the Trump administration claims it's securing the safe passage of 8 to 9 million barrels of oil through the strait daily - a steep decline from the roughly 20 million barrels that traversed the waterway before the conflict erupted.

Washington is signaling that it will dictate the terms. Addressing reporters on Friday, President Trump summarized the diplomatic standoff: "They would love to make a deal, but they're not ready to make the right deal."

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

Azerbaijan Sues CNN Over Story On Cooperation With Israel In War On Iran

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

There is a novel (and highly dubious) lawsuit filed in Delaware by the nation of Azerbaijan against CNN for a story claiming that it was cooperating with Israel in attacks on Iran. Republic of Azerbaijan v. CNN, Inc. borders on the legally frivolous, but it is likely politically advantageous to show Iran that it contests the allegations.

In its Complaint, Azerbaijan details the development of hostilities while maintaining neutrality:

Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran to the south, is not and has never been a participant in the Iran War. Azerbaijan has not supported military operations by any of the warring nations.

...Azerbaijan maintains a policy of neutrality and independence. Azerbaijan does not host any foreign military bases on its territory and, as a non-aligned state, maintains a strict official policy and legislative framework against foreign military footprints.

The basis for the lawsuit is what the country calls "CNN's reckless reporting" on June 5, 2026 in a post titled "Exclusive: Israel sent troops to Azerbaijan during Iran war, sources say." The article claiming that Azerbaijan allowed Israel to use its territory to launch attacks against Iran no doubt raised the ire of the Islamic Republic.

Indeed, the Complaint lays out how Iran threatened any countries assisting Iran and suggested that the story was putting them at risk of an Iranian attack:

Ali Larijani, a senior Iranian official, threatened: 'The countries of the region must either prevent the use of their soil by America against Iran themselves, or we will.' Similarly, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC") has issued a press release unambiguously stating that 'Countries that host the aggressor American military and have placed their land at the disposal of the aggressor criminals for attacks on Iran should be prepared to receive a corresponding response, and should activate their civil defence [sic] units to safeguard the lives of their citizens and move them away from likely targets.'

The complaint, however, faces even more daunting legal challenges. While the Complaint alleges that "CNN's false reporting caused reputational harm to Azerbaijan and threatens tenuous international relations," it is doubtful that a court will view this as a viable tort claim under defamation.

We have previously discussed lawsuits by countries or nationality groups that have been dismissed. The leading case on defamation, New York Times v. Sullivan, expressly states, "For good reason, "no court of last resort in this country has ever held, or even suggested, that prosecutions for libel on government have any place in the American system of jurisprudence."

In 2000, a state court dismissed Air Zimbabwe v. Chicago Tribune Co. (Cal. Super. Ct. 2000), due to the fact that Air Zimbabwe is "a government entity, is precluded under the First Amendment from pursuing a defamation claim."

Moreover, there are elemental problems in making such a claim. A country would be treated as a public official or figure subject to the "actual malice" standard, requiring knowing falsehood or reckless disregard of the truth. CNN clearly had sources that led it to believe the accounts were true. Indeed, many countries, including those asserting neutrality, have secret agreements or accommodations in this and other wars.

Proving that no such agreement existed or that there was not a defensible basis for the story would be very difficult.

The question of harm is also intriguing. Many would view cooperating against Iran as an admirable decision for Azerbaijan. Although it clearly puts Azerbaijan at odds with Iran, it puts it in alignment with other countries such as the United States. It is difficult to see how damages would be measured in such a circumstance, even if a viable claim on the merits could be established.

This case asks a court to adjudicate global political questions with shadowy sources and factual claims. I would be surprised if any court would relish such a trial and expect that Republic of Azerbaijan v. CNN, Inc. will soon join the list of dismissed actions.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 11:40

"Civilizational Suicide": China's Humanoids Sprint Ahead As Americans Fight Over Data Center And Socialism

The five-day 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval are well underway, and on Saturday, an AI-powered humanoid robot reached 14.5 meters per second, or 32.5 mph.

china’s AI robot just hit 14.5 m/s pic.twitter.com/0K4wQ4g9pB

— el.cine (@EHuanglu) August 22, 2026

More than 2,000 humanoid robots are participating in the World Humanoid Robot Games across 51 disciplines and more than 1,000 competitions spanning running, table tennis, and soccer.

Holy smokes...

Humanoid robots are coming for tennis.

100% autonomous...pic.twitter.com/0Q3i4GuTfa

— Min Choi (@minchoi) August 21, 2026

The games opened during the same week as the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, where companies displayed 3,000 products, and the blockbuster IPO of China-based Unitree. Together, the events and IPO suggest that China is pulling far ahead of the US in humanoid robotics. The main reason is that China controls much of the global supply chain for actuators, motors, optics, and other critical components required to manufacture humanoid robots.

Welcome to China, and welcome to the future!

Maybe we will soon witness humanoid robot formation in China's military parade.@WHRGFUN ©️@boosterobotics pic.twitter.com/dVqkVRGghu

— Shen Shiwei 沈诗伟 (@shen_shiwei) August 23, 2026

Related:

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

Arthur MacWaters, who co-founded Legion Health, an AI-native telepsychiatry company, emphasized on X, "We're having debates about data centers, and China is publicly developing superhuman robot armies. What the actual hell are we doing here, guys?"

Another X user said, "We're shooting ourselves in the foot because we want to sit around and watch Netflix and eat Cheetos."

We're shooting ourselves in the foot because we want to sit around and watch Netflix and eat Cheetos

— Jess Fields (@jessalanfields) August 23, 2026

MacWaters responded, "It's civilizational suicide."

While the Trump administration is moving to reindustrialize the US and reshore critical supply chains, the Democratic Party's socialist wing and its far-left allies are advancing an agenda that risks weakening the country from within.

The timing is dangerous. As China expands its AI infrastructure, advanced-manufacturing base, and military power, DSA proposals to block new data centers and neuter US defense capabilities would undermine two pillars of national power. What may be pitched as economic or social reform increasingly carries major national-security consequences and may suggest that these movements are being influenced by subversive networks within left-wing NGO spheres (read here).

We set the narrative at the start of the year that humanoids will move beyond factory floors towards the battlefield. Ukraine confirmed this (see here). 

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 11:05

The Great Burrito Debate And The Uncomfortable Solution To Inflation

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

Recently one of the most important debates in the history of conservative discourse raged across the internet, with sides deeply divided and solutions rare or nonexistent. This debate went largely unnoticed by the rest of the country but it regards the deepest underlying foundations of our economic future.

I am speaking, of course, about the “Great Burrito Debate” of 2026.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating about the significance but I do think this conflict taps into the core of people’s concerns about America’s inflation problem. Not only that, but it exposes a lot of misconceptions people have about what inflation is, what’s causing it and who is to blame.

The burrito debate started as an honest discussion about the cost of living crisis and somehow ended up as dog-pile on conservative manners when it comes to economic discourse. Many conservative and libertarian commentators jumped into the fray with their two cents, though, the vast majority of them have minimal economic background, which I think added more confusion than clarity to the issue.

After two decades of macroeconomic analysis (and predicting the stagflationary crisis well in advance of the Ivy League “experts”) I thought I might offer my own perspective.

Keep in mind, those of us in the alternative economic field had to fight against the lies of the Biden Administration as well as establishment economists like Paul Krugman and Federal Reserve officials like Janet Yellen just to wake the public up to the fact that inflation was upon us and that it was NOT “transitory”.

Ultimately, everyone’s bank balances and monthly bills could not be denied and the gas-lighting ended. The only recourse of the establishment at that point was to blame Trump for all of it. The “Herbert Hoover” comparisons were rampant.

Who Really Has The Power To End Inflation?

To be clear, Trump has reduced the size of government by around 12%, which is an incredible accomplishment considering the amount of legal resistance that was put in place to stop him. However, he did not reduce government spending, which is currently 3% higher than under Biden.

One problem is that 60% of all federal spending is mandatory. By law, programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. all scale their spending to match inflation and there is very little that Trump can do about that. Then there’s the rising interest on debt payments, which is controlled by the Federal Reserve, not the President. Trump’s cuts were only focused on discretionary spending, on institutions like USAID, and even those measures were repeatedly throttled by activist judges.

Trump has tried to circumvent the bureaucracy by issuing tariffs as a counter to the debt problem, but once again, activist judges have intervened. For those who claim that tariffs are “causing inflation”, this is simply false. The contribution tariffs make to CPI is negligible (around 0.5 percentage points). The media (and some libertarians) continue to falsely claim that tariffs are an issue.

This is where I think the public has a disconnect from the reality of the situation, and this includes fiscal conservatives who think they are “holding Trump’s feet to the fire” over US debt. The president is not all-powerful and he has very little control over the direction of the US economy. If he made all the cuts these people demand, he would have to become a dictator and he would have to do it by force.

That is to say, they can’t have it both ways. Either the President takes a constitutional hands-off approach to the economy and government spending, or, he goes full-bore Francisco Franco, declares himself supreme leader, and starts chopping out large pieces of the government (the Spanish “Stabilization Plan” of 1959, not the price control plan of 1939 which ultimately failed).

That’s the only way these kinds of policies are going to happen in the US because Congress isn’t going to do jack. Congress’ primary job is to maintain the status quo, not enact solutions.

The reason fiscal reform is impossible is because our modern government is designed to perpetuate itself; it is designed to grow forever. This is accomplished through the bureaucracy, which is the REAL power base within American politics. Most people do not understand that political leaders come and go, but the bureaucracy is forever and there are no term limits.

The socialist parasites within these structures control the direction of the country and the economy (this includes the central bank). When they face any real political opposition, they simply stall, obstruct, and wait for that political party or leader to leave office. Trump, for example, has only four years to redirect a system that has been on the wrong path for decades. It’s not going to happen without bringing the hammer down.

This brings us back to the “Burrito Debate” and the issue of inflation vs public expectations. The debate started with a post quoting college students complaining about the cost of basic necessities including a “$20 dollar price tag” on burritos. This triggered a wider discussion about affordability vs perception, then spiraled into an argument over conservatives not having enough empathy for struggling youth.

Critics asserted that conservative dismissals of the ongoing cost of living crisis will lead to younger generations rushing to support socialism, and MAGA would be to blame. There are two elements to this argument that I think need to be addressed and I’ll try to summarize as best I can.

Gen Z Has No Point Of Reference Because History Is Ignored

First, there’s the issue of younger generations not having a point of reference for how bad the cost of living crisis today is compared to previous generations. Second, there’s the lack of understanding among older generations on where the current crisis is likely headed in the future without drastic action.

Of course, no burrito actually costs $20. This is a terrible contention which is not based in reality. Maybe it’s the most expensive burrito in the most expensive restaurant in a high cost city like San Francisco or New York, but for the majority of the country a burrito is pocket change.

This brings me to the first issue, which is the younger generation’s lack of historical perspective. To be clear, the current inflationary crisis in the US is NOT the worst inflationary crisis this country has seen in modern times. Not yet, anyway.

From 1972-1981 (just after the US dollar was fully detached from the gold standard), the US suffered one of the most brutal series of inflationary beatings in the nation’s history. Inflation rates hit as high as 13% per year, food prices rose by around 120%, rent prices jumped by 75%, home prices rose by 150% and gas shortages were rampant.

The 1970s demoralized middle-class America. The poverty rate hit 14% and the unemployment rate peaked at 9%. Wages remained stagnant or even dropped for some workers. The average yearly income by 1981 was only $12,000 for individual workers. Most younger people today complain about how “the boomers had it easy” with food prices and house prices back in the day. They don’t actually consider how low wages were, or how high inflation was.

The point is, yes, Gen Z is struggling. Their fears should not be dismissed as frivolous. That said, I think because of internet culture and false expectations, many young people assume they are going through the worst crisis of all time and that no one understands them.

In reality, generations before them had it MUCH worse. The inflationary crisis of the 1970s did not end until the Federal Reserve exploded interest rates to 20%, causing a deflationary reset and making loans unattainable for most people for years.

If you are in your 20s and you think you’re not supposed to be struggling, I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. We all had to struggle, many of us with terrible wages and low job availability compared to today. Don’t expect to be living comfortably until your mid-30s. It’s just the way things have always been.

Every generation experiences periods of economic uncertainty. But this doesn’t mean that there’s not considerable danger looming in the near future.

Kicking The Can Has Created An Economic Time Bomb

What some conservatives get wrong is the notion that the system can be fixed politically and that things will improve if we only keep Democrats out of office. Keeping leftists away from power is always a good thing, if only to prevent the country from going completely communist and cannibalizing itself. But when it comes to inflation, once an avalanche is set in motion it can’t be stopped and this avalanche has been building for decades.

Inflation cannot be reversed without a deflationary event. Since the credit crash of 2008-2009, political leaders and the Federal Reserve have been aggressively trying to prevent any deflation (the Keynesian standard). Which means that America (and most of the world) has not taken the deflationary medicine we should have taken years ago. Instead, we kicked the can down the road.

Some “experts” believe we can kick the can down the road for eternity. This is foolish.

The Catch-22 is that the central bankers must continue to intervene to prevent deflation but each time they do they pump up the money supply and create even more inflation, which then demands more deflation for balance.

The pandemic event was the most recent instance of this intervention. The covid bailouts caused an immense inflationary reaction and the spike in prices that followed is what most of Gen Z is feeling today as they enter the work-a-day world.

If the Fed stimulates, more inflation is on the way. If they hike interest rates and refuse to intervene, the US faces a deflationary crash. This is where we’re at in 2026 and yes, Gen Z and Gen Alpha will be hit the hardest unless something is done. But what?

The only policy solution that makes sense is an organized deflation plan, if such a thing is possible. Meaning, a reformed government would have to eliminate the central bank, hike rates far higher than they currently are, refuse to bail out failing companies relying on cheap debt, then institute austerity measures on social programs for everyone except the disabled and elderly. This is basically what Franco did (while also hunting down hundreds of thousands of liberals and communists, but let’s set that aside for now).

This government would have to find a way to cut spending, balance the budget and also act to mitigate greater damage to consumers by reducing taxes wherever possible (perhaps even ending property taxes on single family homes).

That would require a level of institutional coordination and cooperation that does not exist in the US right now. Again, Trump, or someone else, would have to act like an economic authoritarian and dictate every detail of the operation.

The system could return to a more normal condition after the economic bubble has been strategically burst, but I suspect similar actions would have to take place perhaps every 25 years to prevent another buildup of inflationary pressure. It would be a kind of “reset”, but not in the way that globalists at the WEF imagine. It would be a planned reset coordinated with the public so we are no longer waiting around for the bankers or random chance to decide when a crash is going to occur.

Meaning, each generation would have to accept the responsibility of dealing with a controlled deflationary downturn for at least a few years. Planning such an event would make it possible for the public to prep ahead of time. It could become a sort of deflationary tradition; similar to a Jubilee.

The only other option, as noted, is to do nothing and wait for the bubble to burst on its own. Eventually, high prices will drag down spending enough that deflation sets in. Job losses will jump. The Yen-carry trade will derail. A Black Swan event will pull the rug out from under us – Something will happen that sets the deflationary chain of events in motion and the central bank will do what it always does: Print money.

This is true of almost every country in the world right now. The US is not the only economy facing inflationary dilemmas, it’s just the largest.

A time will come when the dollar won’t be able to take it anymore and the currency system will break. Then, your burritos really will cost $20 or more and that will be a terrible day of reckoning. It’s a conundrum that should have been dealt with back in 2009, but NO ONE wants to be responsible for the financial pain caused by taking that bitter deflationary pill.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 10:30

Death Of Europe's Industrial Base: VW CEO Set To Announce 50,000 Job Cuts

Europe's industrial demise has become impossible to ignore. The continent's automotive manufacturing base is being hollowed out by high energy costs, regulatory pressure, and a flood of cheap Chinese electric vehicles, with Germany, once Europe's industrial powerhouse, emerging as the epicenter of this terrible decline.

Germany's largest manufacturer by revenue is Volkswagen Group, whose CEO, Oliver Blume, is warning employees that the coming weeks will be critical as Europe's largest automaker prepares to detail the most extensive restructuring in its history.

"The next few weeks will be crucial: everyone must pull together," he told local outlet Bild am Sonntag. "We have drawn up the largest transformation plan in the history of the Volkswagen Group."

The upcoming meetings, scheduled for next week, are expected to provide employees and union representatives with new details about the plan to shed 50,000 jobs.

"The next few years will be decisive in determining who stays in the race and who comes out on top," Blume said, pointing to massive pressure to slash costs, fundamental shifts in the market, and global turmoil.

Blume warned, "The global car industry is in the midst of a massive crisis. And the Volkswagen Group is right in the thick of it. Geopolitics, trade barriers, regulation, weak markets and fierce competition are all taking their toll."

Christiane Benner, deputy chairwoman of VW's supervisory board and head of Germany's IG Metall union, told local outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Blume's plan to cut 50,000 jobs is a "hard provocation," adding that trust in management is severely "strained."

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is holding "concrete negotiations" with Chinese automakers about assembling their vehicles at German factories, Benner said. Such deals could help protect domestic jobs and improve plant utilization, though she cautioned that they would represent only a "complementary measure" rather than a comprehensive solution.

Talks aimed at securing the future of VW's Osnabrück plant are also progressing, according to Benner, who added that Qatar blocked a potential agreement involving Israeli defense contractor Rafael to convert a civilian production line to military production.

Whether the issue is the death of a industrial base, the Third World invasion of Europe, or disastrous green and energy policies that have sent energy prices through the roof, Brussels' terrible decisions are, as Nomura analyst Andrzej Szczepaniak described, "seeding political change" that will push the continent "toward more populism."

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 09:55

Alfalfa Sprouts Linked To Bacterial Infections In 15 US States

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

A total of 55 people have been infected with E. coli and Salmonella across 15 states in an outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Fresh homegrown Alfalfa or Lucerne Medicago sativa sprouts in white bowl. Courtesy of the CDC

Of those 55 people, 46 were infected with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, seven with Salmonella, and two with both pathogens, according to the FDA's Aug. 21 update. Four people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Minnesota accounted for the largest number of infections, with 21 cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wisconsin followed with 17 cases. Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, and New York each reported two cases. Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Washington each reported one.

According to the CDC, illnesses began on May 31, with the most recent case beginning on Aug. 8.

State and local health officials have been interviewing sick people about the foods they ate during the week before becoming ill. Of the 37 people interviewed, 26 reported eating alfalfa sprouts.

Traceback investigations at grocery stores and restaurants identified alfalfa sprouts distributed by Minnesota-based Everything Sprouts LLC as a source of illnesses, according to the FDA.

On Wednesday, the FDA began an inspection at the company and collected product samples. Investigators are working to determine the source of contamination and whether other products or companies are connected to the outbreak.

Everything Sprouts said in an Aug. 21 statement that it was coordinating with the FDA and CDC to recall certain lots of alfalfa sprouts because of potential contamination with STEC and Salmonella.

The recall covers Everything Sprouts Alfalfa sprouts sold in 5-ounce plastic containers with lids and distributed from May 27 through Aug. 21. The products were shipped to retail grocery stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as certain third-party distributors.

The company said federal and state agencies had notified it of reported illnesses. It also said it had tested its products daily during the outbreak and had not received a positive laboratory result.

Everything Sprouts said it was continuing to work with public-health officials to investigate the potential problem and would provide updates as more information became available.

The company also said that, as of its statement, it had received no direct reports of illnesses involving the recalled products.

According to Everything Sprouts, STEC and Salmonella infections can cause serious health problems. STEC infection can lead to acute diarrheal illness within several days of ingesting the bacteria.

Most people recover within about a week, according to the company, but people with weakened immune systems can experience more severe or prolonged illness and may develop complications requiring medical attention.

Salmonella infections can become especially serious in frail people, older adults, young children, and those with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms can include fever, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, which can sometimes be bloody. In rare cases, Salmonella can enter the bloodstream and cause more serious complications, according to the company.

In addition to Everything Sprouts-brand alfalfa sprouts, the CDC linked the illnesses to the company's Calco-branded sprouts in an Aug. 21 food-safety alert.

The CDC advised people who bought the affected products not to eat them and instead throw them away or return them to the place of purchase. It also recommended cleaning items and surfaces that may have contacted the sprouts with a dishwasher or hot, soapy water.

The CDC advised people to contact a health care provider promptly if they develop warning signs including diarrhea accompanied by a fever above 102 degrees Fahrenheit, bloody diarrhea, vomiting severe enough that liquids cannot be kept down, diarrhea lasting more than two days without improvement, or signs of dehydration.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 09:20

Taiwan Tech Insiders Warn Beijing's Germanium Squeeze Is Hitting Production

Nikkei Asia reports that China is restricting or delaying exports of germanium- and quartz-based materials to Taiwan, creating "painful supply-chain bottlenecks" across the island's key aerospace, semiconductor, and optical companies.

The supply disruptions reinforce the urgent need for the US and its allies to accelerate supply-chain decoupling and secure alternative sources of critical materials. Beijing's ability to weaponize shipments could prove devastating during a military conflict or allow China to slow Western semiconductor and AI infrastructure buildouts while its domestic AI companies and infrastructure projects close the gap.

"It's an industrywide issue. Many of my peers have encountered the same problem, and it could significantly extend lead times across our business," one executive in the optical industry told the Japanese outlet, requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation from Beijing.

For context, germanium's most critical uses are in defense optics and communications infrastructure, and it plays a significant, though largely indirect, role in the AI buildout through fiber networks, photonics, and data-center connectivity rather than the GPUs used in chip stacks.

Taiwanese manufacturers warned that prolonged customs reviews for germanium- and quartz-based materials began last year and that lead times continue to worsen, causing some suppliers to miss customer delivery schedules. Sources said one chip equipment manufacturer had to delay production on one chip line for months due to the supply squeeze and noted that sourcing materials outside China is extraordinarily difficult.

"The quality and precision for quartz is very strict for the chip industry, and currently we don't have an alternative source from China," one Taiwanese executive told the outlet.

"We have been told that some of our Chinese suppliers have been summoned by the authorities and questioned about their customers and shipments," said one of the sources. "We have already lost some orders because longer lead times for certain materials mean we can't meet our customers' delivery schedules."

Aerospace suppliers are also reporting disruptions involving Chinese magnets.

"We have found that key permanent magnets essential for making motors have faced some disruptions because of Chinese export controls, and it's not that easy to find cost-effective alternatives in other places," an executive with an aerospace supplier told the outlet.

China's weaponization of critical-material supply chains amid heightened tensions with Taiwan suggests that the supply-chain decoupling theme will only accelerate from here.

Last week, Piper Sandler initiated coverage of LightPath Technologies with an "Overweight" rating and a 12-month price target of $15, citing the defense supplier's proprietary BlackDiamond infrared glass, which completely "circumvents" the need for germanium amid "significant cost increases and scarcity stemming from recent Chinese export controls."

Clarke Jeffries, vice president and senior equity research analyst at Piper Sandler, specializes in industrial software and defense technology. In a note titled "BlackDiamonds Are Forever," Jeffries outlined the core value proposition underpinning LightPath's investment thesis:

Central to LightPath's value proposition is the exclusive license to BlackDiamond, a synthetic glass that circumvents significant cost increases & scarcity from recent Chinese export controls on germanium.

With an exclusive license, and now competing at cost parity (or below) to Germanium, we believe LightPath is poised to capture meaningful share in of IR and Multi-Spectral optics market as the technical advantages of the BlackDiamond technology scale to large diameter optics and have the opportunity to be designed into large upcoming defense programs.

Beijing's tightening grip on germanium, tungsten, and other critical-material export flows merely confirms that the supply-chain decoupling investment theme will remain intact for many years.

The US and its allies must secure alternative sources before China further weaponizes export controls, which could soon create operational bottlenecks across the defense, semiconductor, and AI-focused industries.

That is why our decoupling theme is moving further upstream. On Wednesday, we examined Almonty Industries as a potential alternative supplier of tungsten (read report).

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 08:50

Spain's Pools Hit By Disgusting 'Brown Challenge' TikTok Filth

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Spain's peak summer season has been disrupted once again by a revolting viral trend that has forced the closure of swimming pools and waterparks across the country, leaving families stranded and facilities scrubbed clean at public expense.

At PortAventura World's Caribe Aquatic Park on the Costa Dorada this week, lifeguards evacuated both the adult and children's pools after detecting human faeces in the water.

The incident, reported on a Tuesday afternoon and allegedly repeated the next day, left the popular resort's aquatic areas shut for the remainder of the day under strict health protocols.

In recent years, Foreign Instagram & TikTok users have taken it upon themselves to try and get public pools to close by defecating in the water.

It's caused a serious public health crisis, already leading to the closure of more than 300 pools in Spain, which all had to be... pic.twitter.com/sWXRbaXvLC

— Lozzy B ??? (@TruthFairy131) August 22, 2026

The park, which draws millions of visitors annually including large numbers of British and Irish tourists, applied mandatory cleaning and testing procedures before reopening.

One swimmer captured the scene on social media, writing: "It's 4.33pm in the afternoon and some pig has just defecated in the pool and they've kicked us all out. This isn't AI, this is reality. If you're at Caribe Aquatic Park you'll have seen it. We're all out of the pool."

@bartoloventura1 Holi son las 4:33 de la tarde y un gorrino o gorrina se acaba de defecar en la piscina de Costa Caribe y nos han sacado a todos esto no es Ia esto es una realidad si estáis en Costa Caribe lo habréis visto estamos todos fuera de la piscina#bartoloventura1 #viral #fyp #portaventuraworld #viral ? sonido original - bartoloventura1

The so-called "brown challenge" or "reto marrón" involves deliberately defecating in public pools or releasing faeces from bags concealed in swimwear, with the explicit aim of forcing closures.

?? Meanwhile in Spain

Waterparks are being forced to close in peak season.

Why?

Because culturally enriching Youths are participating in 'The Brown Challenge' whereby they defecate outside in the Swimming Pool Water. pic.twitter.com/RBGIGduWGf

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) August 22, 2026

By law, contaminated pools must be thoroughly cleaned, hyperchlorinated, and often tested repeatedly for bacteria such as E. coli. Facilities typically remain closed for 24 to 48 hours.

Health authorities warn of risks including norovirus, Salmonella and Cryptosporidium, which chlorine does not always eliminate and which can cause severe stomach illness, particularly in children.

PortAventura officials stated: "The safety and well-being of our visitors is our top priority, and our team is trained and prepared to manage this type of situation with the utmost diligence and efficiency."

They added, "We rigorously applied all the health protocols established by current regulations and the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT). Specifically, in the event of any detection and presence of faeces, vomit or other visible organic waste in the water, swimming is immediately prohibited until the situation is normalised after the corresponding protocol has been applied."

This is no isolated prank. Spanish media and local councils report that more than 300 pools have been affected in recent seasons. Municipalities from Galicia and Valencia to Madrid, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia have issued alerts.

Some towns have closed the same facilities multiple times in a single summer. Costs mount quickly: draining, refilling and lost revenue can run into thousands of euros per incident.

Fines for those caught range from €1,000 to several thousand euros, with bans from facilities, yet identification remains difficult because pools cannot install cameras in changing areas or demand ID on entry.

The Camp de Tarragona area, home to PortAventura, has been among the hardest hit. Nearby municipal pools in Vila-seca, l'Arboç and other towns have faced repeated shutdowns. Similar scenes have played out in Toledo, Zamora, Burgos, Jaén and across the Basque Country, where an Olympic-sized pool was evacuated in the middle of a heatwave.

Deliberately defecating in shared public spaces and spreading one's own filth is not the act of a civilised person. It is literally the behaviour of animals. In nature, certain creatures mark territory with waste precisely to signal dominance, to claim space, and to drive off rivals.

What we are witnessing in Spanish pools is the same impulse, only now performed by humans who have been told their presence is an enrichment rather than a burden. When people treat public spaces as open sewers, they are asserting hierarchy in the most primitive way possible,.

This public health nuisance does not exist in a vacuum. It arrives against the backdrop of Spain's accelerating migration crisis under the socialist-communist government of Pedro Sánchez.

In April, authorities launched a mass amnesty via emergency decree that opened the door for hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants to regularise their status, obtain work permits and move rapidly toward citizenship.

Queues of predominantly young men from Morocco, Algeria and elsewhere formed outside consulates as applicants scrambled for the required documents. The government initially spoke of around 500,000 people; applications soon exceeded one million.

By July the scale was clear: more than one million applications for legal status, granting recipients free movement rights across the entire Schengen zone.

Opposition figures, including Vox leader Santiago Abascal, accused Sánchez of engineering a long-term electoral advantage by naturalising large numbers of foreigners and altering the demographic balance.

European conservatives warned that the policy risks collapsing Schengen itself by allowing unrestricted onward travel. The New York Times, for its part, hailed Spain as a "beacon of the global left."

That same open-border approach has played out dramatically in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. In late July and early August tens of thousands of mostly military-age men crossed from Morocco in a matter of days, overwhelming local services.

Beaches became open-air camps littered with waste. Hospitals reported outbreaks of scabies, measles and other infections. Police and military personnel assigned to clear the sites themselves contracted scabies.

Despite official claims that most would be returned, thousands remained, and the cycle of clearance and reoccupation continued. The visible impunity has emboldened further attempts to reach the Spanish mainland.

Just days ago, dinghies packed with North African men landed on tourist beaches near Cartagena, sending holidaymakers scrambling for their belongings.

Local mayors expressed fury at the ease with which the vessels reached shore undetected. The message from Ceuta appears to have travelled: if thousands can simply walk or swim into Spanish territory and face little lasting consequence, smaller acts of disruption elsewhere become easier to attempt.

The "brown challenge" sits at the intersection of social-media exhibitionism and the broader erosion of shared standards that accompanies rapid, unmanaged demographic change.

Public pools and waterparks are among the last remaining low-cost spaces where ordinary Spanish families and European tourists gather in summer. When those spaces are repeatedly rendered unusable by deliberate contamination, the social contract frays further.

Taxpayers fund the clean-ups. Parents keep children away. Businesses lose peak-season revenue. The pattern is familiar across Western Europe: facilities built by one population become contested or degraded under pressures introduced by another.

A country that once marketed itself as a premier holiday destination now contends with closed pools, stormed beaches and the quiet calculation by many natives that the old rules no longer apply equally to everyone.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 08/23/2026 - 07:00

When The Rule Of Law Fails

Authored by Madge Waggy,

What follows emerges from seventeen months of examination into procedural collapses, constitutional erosions, and institutional betrayals that have accelerated beyond the capacity of conventional reportage to capture. Sources include former jurists who resigned rather than participate in predetermined outcomes, law enforcement officials who documented unlawful commands, and archival materials that reveal pattern precedents for contemporary ruptures. We present this analysis not to provoke despair, but to examine the anatomy of dissolution while recognition might still permit response. The reader is advised that the trajectory described has proceeded beyond the point where electoral mechanisms offer remedy, and that preparation for post-constitutional conditions constitutes rational response to empirical observation.

The Fracturing: When Marble Crumbles Beneath Velvet

Observe the edifice. Not the facade of columned grandeur that photographs well for tourist brochures, but the load-bearing structures that sustain civic order. The mortar between stones has been leaching for decades, replaced with expedient compounds that harden briefly then powder under pressure. What appears solid to casual inspection reveals, upon closer examination, the honeycombed fragility of termite-gnawed timber.

The rule of law - that abstraction upon which millions have wagered their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor - has not been abolished. Far more insidiously, it has been instrumentalized. Transformed from constraint upon power into weapon wielded by power. The distinction matters. Abolition would provoke resistance. Instrumentalization induces learned helplessness, the conditioned response of laboratory animals who no longer attempt escape because previous attempts have been punished.

Consider the mechanism. Statutes remain on codified pages. Precedents still fill bound volumes. Theatrical performances of judicial process continue in robed solemnity. But the outcomes - the actual distribution of force, property, liberty - now proceed according to criteria that cannot be publicly acknowledged without unraveling the legitimacy upon which enforcement depends. The law has become Schrodinger’s cat: simultaneously alive and dead, its state determined only upon observation, and then retroactively justified through reasoning so tortured it would extract confessions from stone.

Heavy stillness pervades courthouse corridors where verdicts arrive prepackaged. Muffled air absorbs the footsteps of attorneys who have learned that vigorous advocacy risks bar sanctions, that certain defendants cannot be acquitted regardless of evidence, that particular prosecutions must proceed regardless of merit. Where once adversarial collision generated truth through friction, now choreographed collusion produces predetermined outcomes with the mechanical inevitability of assembly-line fabrication.

The Inversion: How Protection Became Predation

Examine the metamorphosis of institutions whose founding purpose was circumscription of state violence. Police forces established to apprehend actual predators now function as extraction mechanisms, their revenue-generation priorities transforming citizens into quarry. Courts erected to adjudicate disputes now operate as processing facilities, their dockets clogged with statutory violations that lack injured parties, their calendars dominated by plea arrangements that obviate evidentiary examination. Legislatures convened to express popular will now manufacture complexity so impenetrable that compliance becomes impossible, thereby manufacturing the criminality that justifies expansion.

The inversion is nearly complete. The FBI - originally chartered to investigate interstate criminality - now devotes substantial resources to manufacturing terrorism through entrapment of vulnerable individuals, then publicizing these manufactured plots as justification for expanded surveillance. The IRS - created to fund legitimate governance - now functions as political enforcement arm, its audit selections targeting ideological opponents with statistical improbability that defies random explanation. The regulatory apparatus - ostensibly protecting consumers - now serves as barrier to entry for competitors of established conglomerates, its compliance costs crushing small enterprise while manageable for entities that can afford dedicated compliance departments.

Each institution, examined individually, displays symptoms of capture. Examined collectively, they reveal systemic transformation. The heavy stillness of bureaucratic inertia now serves not popular interest but consolidated power. The muffled air of administrative process now muffles dissent rather than amplifying resolution. Where footsteps once dissolved into the marble floors of public buildings as citizens approached for redress, now those same footsteps echo ominously as warnings to others who might seek similar remedy.

The Dissolution: Precedents of Collapse

Historical memory - when not actively suppressed - offers instruction. Rome’s transition from republic to imperium did not occur through single coup but through incremental usurpations, each justified by emergency, each ratified by senatorial acquiescence, each establishing precedent for subsequent expansion. The Weimar Republic’s dissolution proceeded through “legal” mechanisms: emergency decrees, enabling acts, judicial appointments that transformed interpretation rather than overturning text. The Soviet Union’s constitutional guarantees - extensive on paper - provided no protection against party-state fusion that rendered law irrelevant to power.

American exceptionalism - the comforting delusion that geography or founding documents confer immunity to these patterns - has prevented recognition of their local manifestation. But the patterns are unmistakable to unprejudiced observation. Executive orders that bypass legislative process. Judicial opinions that discover meanings in constitutional text invisible to centuries of prior readers. Administrative regulations that carry criminal penalties despite absent legislative authorization. Each instance, defended as isolated necessity, contributes to cumulative precedent that transforms limited government into unlimited discretion.

The weathered limestone arches of Monticello and Independence Hall - physical remnants of founding generation aspirations - now frame populations whose understanding of those aspirations has been systematically eroded through educational institutions that treat constitutional limitations as obstacles to be overcome rather than protections to be preserved. The brutalist concrete contours of contemporary government buildings - deliberately imposing, alienating, inhuman - materialize the relationship between state and citizen that has replaced the founding vision: not service but domination, not representation but management, not consent but submission.

The Documentation: Evidence Accumulating in Shadows

Paper trails exist for those willing to excavate. Memoranda from intelligence agencies acknowledging warrantless surveillance of domestic communications. Emails between regulatory officials and regulated entities arranging enforcement forbearance in exchange for political contributions. Testimony from inspectors general describing evidence destruction and witness intimidation. Each document, individually, might be dismissed as aberration. Collectively, they constitute pattern.

Pattern recognition requires connecting dots that institutional gatekeepers insist remain separate. The prosecutor who declines to charge politically connected defendants while pursuing vindictive prosecutions of ideological opponents. The judge who grants injunctions against executive action when initiated by one party while denying identical relief when sought by another. The agency that expedites permits for favored projects while interminably delaying competitors through “environmental review” that never concludes. The dots connect into constellations that map the actual distribution of power, regardless of formal organizational charts.

Heavy stillness settles upon archives where these documents molder, their FOIA requests buried under procedural delay, their whistleblower origins punished through professional destruction, their contents dismissed by media organs that function as stenographers for power rather than interrogators of it. Muffled air chokes the corridors where investigators once pursued corruption regardless of partisan affiliation, before such pursuit became itself career-limiting. Where footsteps once dissolved into purposeful stride toward accountability, now they falter, hesitate, retreat.

The Mechanism: How Legitimacy Dissolves Without Announcement

Governments do not typically announce their own termination. They demonstrate it through behavior that renders their own rules optional, their own constraints ignorable, their own legitimacy claims farcical. The demonstration accumulates gradually, each instance building upon predecessors, until the accumulation reaches critical mass where recognition becomes unavoidable.

That mass approaches. Consider: the executive who declares emergencies that do not exist, then exercises powers that emergencies justify. The legislature that delegates its lawmaking authority to unelected administrators, then expresses outrage at administrative outcomes while retaining delegation. The judiciary that discovers rights invisible to constitutional text while ignoring rights explicitly enumerated. The law enforcement that enforces against disfavored groups while ignoring identical conduct by favored groups. The taxation that extracts for purposes never authorized, through mechanisms never legislated, from targets never represented.

Each instance, individually, might be rationalized. Collectively, they announce that the rules apply only to those who lack power to exempt themselves. And once that announcement becomes unmistakable - once the population recognizes that compliance is for suckers, that the system is rigged, that the game is fixed - the final dissolution accelerates. Not through revolution but through withdrawal. The productive cease producing. The cooperative cease cooperating. The law-abiding cease abiding. The social fabric - already threadbare - shreds entirely.

The Precipice: Recognition and Its Consequences

Those who recognize pattern face unenviable choice. Vocal acknowledgment risks targeting. Silent acquiescence enables continuation. Preparation without announcement offers only partial protection, and that protection temporary. The heavy stillness that pervades recognition is not peaceful contemplation but coiled tension, the muffled air of suppressed violence that precedes rupture.

Historical precedent suggests that governmental dissolution - when it arrives - proceeds rapidly once initiated. Not gradually, but catastrophically. The institutions that seemed permanent reveal their contingency. The protections that seemed guaranteed prove illusory. The authorities that commanded respect command only fear, then not even that. The weathered limestone arches crumble. The brutalist concrete contours crack. Where footsteps once dissolved into ordered procession, now they stampede toward exits that prove too narrow, too few, too late.

Preparation for such moments requires more than material stockpiling. It requires psychological adjustment to conditions where legal recourse no longer exists, where institutional protection has evaporated, where self-reliance becomes not virtue but necessity. The adjustment is painful for generations conditioned to believe that authority exists to serve them, that systems function to protect them, that rules apply equally to powerful and powerless.

That belief - already strained to breaking - will not survive the next phase. The recognition that it was always belief rather than fact, always hope rather than observation, always delusion rather than reality, constitutes the final trauma that precedes either submission or resistance. The choice between those outcomes is being made now, in countless individual decisions that aggregate into civilizational trajectory, even as the heavy stillness persists, the muffled air thickens, and footsteps dissolve not into purpose but into paralysis.

The warning has been issued. The pattern has been documented. The precipice has been reached. What follows is not prediction but observation: the rule of law has failed. The government that claimed its protection has ended, not with announcement, but with demonstration. Recognition of that ending - now unavoidable - constitutes the beginning of whatever comes next.

This article was originally published on MadgeWaggy.blogspot.com. h/t Lew Rockwell

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

Inside America's Drone Arms Race: What Industry Experts See Ahead Of Procurement Supercycle

Our coverage of America's Group 1 to Group 3 drone industry has centered on Unusual Machines and Ondas, two companies positioned to reap the benefits from what could become a historic procurement cycle next year. The catalyst is the Department of War's Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, which is preparing to direct $55 billion toward autonomous systems. If that spending materializes as planned, companies offering NDAA-compliant drones and drone components, scalable manufacturing capacity, and field-ready platforms should be best positioned to capture the coming flood of orders.

For more clarity on the drone space, Canaccord Genuity recently hosted the "Drone Dominion" panel, which included executives from AeroVironment, Leonardo DRS, Unusual Machines, Codan Tactical Communications, and Juno Industries.

"The panel opened with a consensus that drone warfare has shifted from individual aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications to massed, expendable strike systems with growing remote autonomy," Austin Moeller, Canaccord Genuity's senior aerospace and defense technology equity-research analyst, wrote in a note Thursday.

Moeller's summary of the panel discussion provides investors with a useful framework for understanding the drone space and identifying the companies best positioned to benefit from a potential procurement supercycle, as demand for Group 1 to Group 3 drones, counter-UAS systems, and domestically sourced NDAA-compliant parts is poised to accelerate.

Drone dominion

We hosted management of Leonardo DRS (DRS), AeroVironment (AVAV), Unusual Machines (UMAC), Codan DTC, and Juno Industries at the 46th Annual Canaccord Genuity Growth Conference in Boston for a Drone/C-UAS panel discussion. Our panel included Leonardo DRS CEO John Baylouny, AeroVironment COO Dr. Robert Smith, Unusual Machines COO Drew Camden, Codan Tactical Communications President and Executive General Manager Paul Sangster, and former Canadian Minister of National Defense and Juno Industries Executive Chairman, Harjit Sajjan. The panel discussed how drone warfare has evolved from being primarily an ISR platform to widespread adoption as autonomous and expendable/attritable tactical and one-way attack systems, along with the corresponding urgent need for counter-UAS layered air defenses, secure supply chains, and integrated battlefield C2 systems and AI edge compute.

The panel opened with a consensus that drone warfare has shifted from individual aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications to massed, expendable strike systems with growing remote autonomy. John Baylouny stated that drones are now weapons that must make sense of the battlefield, and Harjit Sajjan emphasized that integrating sensors into battle management systems to enable fusion/processing of data is central to making those strike capabilities practical and useful. The panel agreed this transition changes not only platform design but also how forces employ drones; for instance, moving from a handful of high-end assets to large numbers of lower-cost munitions used en masse (swarms) to saturate and overwhelm air defenses and targets. This dynamic forces the industry to prioritize rapid iteration and high-volume manufacturing, modular payloads, and mission-tailored autonomy so systems can be adopted and modified quickly as tactics and countermeasures evolve in the field.

The panel agreed that battlefield advantage now depends on resilient, secure command-and-control (C2) networks that connect drones, sensors, weapons platforms, and operators into rapid decision-making workflows. Paul Sangster explained that today's battlefield is far more networked, requiring secure mesh communications that tie drones, sensors, and vehicles into rapid decision loops. Dr. Rob Smith and the others noted that the tactical advantage now comes from how quickly collected sensor data can be communicated to warfighters and platforms and acted upon, which has elevated architecture, encryption, and waveform design to operational-level priorities. The panel emphasized that interoperability is a prerequisite for scaling effective multi-platform operations. Speakers warned that contested-spectrum environments and adversary cyber-attack tactics could quickly degrade the benefits of massed drone operations unless resilience and redundancy are built into C2 designs.

Counter-UAS defenses being layered and multi-modal were stressed by the panel. Mr. Baylouny described systems combining radar, IR identification, and multiple effectors (e.g., DRS' Sgt. Stout Stryker air artillery Mission Equipment Package). Dr. Smith outlined a layered approach beginning with Radio Frequency (RF) detection and Electronic Warfare (EW) at standoff ranges, then lasers for cost-effective engagement within line-of-sight, and kinetic interceptors when necessary. Speakers emphasized mobility and integrated C2 so that different defeat mechanisms can be applied as threats evolve, reflecting a pragmatic view that no single technology will defeat every class of drone. As a result, the defense tech market is making investments in software/AI platforms, sensors (radar, RF, EO, IR/thermal), directed energy, and affordable kinetic interceptors to create adaptable defense mechanisms for various defensive scenarios for both point-defense and on-the-move.

Drew Camden and Rob Smith argued that expanding domestic production capacity requires predictable govt. demand and long-term procurement commitments. Manufacturers depend on these factors so that they can invest in facilities, automation, and long-term supplier relationships.

They stated that US systems will likely differ in capability from mass-produced foreign drones (Ukrainian drones are using Chinese Raspberry Pis and motors, for example) and that programs like Drone Dominance must create steady, multi-year volume procurement plans such as IDIQs/OTAs to make rapid scaling feasible without stopping and restarting fragile supply chains. Firms are already redirecting R&D and IRAD into domestic tooling and manufacturing readiness to shorten the timeline from prototype to fielded production and advance-purchasing materials inventory for when multi-year contracts are in place, and demand is present. In practice, policymakers must align procurement, financing, and industrial policy to reduce production ramp-up time, reduce lead times for critical components, and stabilize the supply chain.

Speakers raised concerns about deep supply chain and security/espionage concerns. The panel discussed challenges in removing Chinese-made components and subcomponents, as well as securing rare earth materials, noting that compliance requires tracing multiple layers down the supply chain. Many A&D primes have found Chinese materials or components as they investigate deeper into their supply chains. Mr. Sajjan cautioned against focusing on a single supplier or country and urged comprehensive evaluation with trusted national agencies, while Mr. Baylouny described efforts internally to look five or six layers deep to discover where materials and components truly originate from. Mr. Camden explained his company's strategy of bringing parts, and eventually, chips and motors onshore. He added that while Unusual Machines had initially been sourcing drone motors from China, the company is now doing its own winding with machines in a similar production process to Chinese drone company T-MOTOR. Dr. Smith emphasized the importance of firmware screening, cyber red-teaming, and holistic assurance practices. Addressing these challenges will require sustained funding, clearer regulatory standards (e.g., NDAA and ITAR), and closer public-private partnerships to create resilience and chain of custody among supply chains.

Finally, the panel emphasized that training and acquisition practices must be reformed to keep pace with evolving drone tactics and technologies. Mr. Baylouny argued that the old "design, build, and buy thousands" government PoR model is too slow and called for experiment-driven acquisition. Mr. Sajjan highlighted the importance of close user-developer feedback so deployed troops can refine and optimize systems with their designers for real-world missions. Mr. Camden pointed to improvised civilian and government innovations seen in Ukraine as evidence that militaries must be able to adapt new concepts and strategies quickly. Dr. Smith reinforced that predictable demand signals will also enable investment in the training, sustainment, and industrial pipelines needed to scale manufacturing capabilities. To turn technological advances into enduring operational advantage, the panel concluded that reforms across procurement and training must move forward along with technical, military, and industrial initiatives.

Our mid-June initiation report, "How To Profit From the Asymmetric Warfare Boom" ... 

... first identified the leading public and private companies positioned across the drone and counter-drone space.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 21:35

Family Structure Determines Kids' Success In School More Than Race Or Income, Researchers Say

Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times,

While universities debate whether to skip standardized admissions tests and the University of Michigan waives first-term grades for some incoming students, new research suggests that relaxing standards might not be the best way to help kids who are struggling in school.

A science teacher works with her students at a high school in Homestead, Fla., on March 10, 2017. Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty Images

The new report by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and the American Enterprise Institute, based on data collected from grade school students by the National Survey of Children’s Health, focused on how kids performed in school and what they said about their home life. The report found that “family structure is a more powerful predictor of school problems, academic performance, and depression than are race and poverty.”

The Department of Education’s Nation’s Report Card sorts results by race, sex or income, but it ignores family structures even though it has been collecting data on that factor since 2013, researchers said.

By contrast, the report looked at “whether or not kids are being raised by their own mother and father,” IFS Senior Fellow Brad Wilcox said, and they found that family structure was often a more important factor in children’s well-being.

“It’s pretty clear that the character of the family you grew up in is more important than the color of your skin,” Wilcox told The Epoch Times.

The study reported that 74 percent of children from “intact, married-parent families” achieved top grades (As and Bs), compared with 60 percent of children from “other family structures.” In addition, the IFS stated that children who were not raised by both biological parents were 47 percent more likely to have disciplinary problems at school and more than twice as likely to be depressed.

“Raising children in a stable married family is incredibly helpful to kids,” Wilcox said.

Graduating Without Basic Skills

The IFS’s findings come at a time when data increasingly indicates that many American children are struggling in school, and looking at grades may not even show the full picture. Reports and anecdotes suggest that even among students who receive passing grades, many are not learning basic skills.

The National Literacy Institute reports that 64 percent of America’s fourth graders do not read proficiently, and more than half of American adults now read below a sixth-grade level. And statewide reports are indicating that grade school children are being passed on to the next grade, or graduating, regardless of whether or not they have basic reading and math skills.

In 2023, Baltimore City schools announced that they would “avoid the punitive approach of failing students,” citing effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. This followed a 2021 report by the state of Maryland, which said that across the state, “approximately half of the students who graduated high school and enrolled in a Maryland college or university in 2013 were assessed to need remediation in math, English, and/or reading.”

Studies in Texas, Alabama, and Missouri over the past two decades showed similar findings.

A 2025 report from the University of California-San Diego stated that the math skills of one-in-12 incoming students were below a middle school level. More recently, University of California-Berkeley mathematics professor Zvezdelina Stankova said in an op-ed for the San Francisco Standard that she had to pause her calculus course in order to teach her students middle-school level algebra and fractions.

In many cases, the response from schools has been to accommodate a lack of basic skills by loosening assessment tests, or getting rid of them altogether. Currently, more than 2,000 colleges and universities, including some Ivy League and state universities, do not require standardized tests like the SAT and the ACT as a criterion for admission.

In a possible case of “grade inflation,” Harvard University reported that 60 percent of the grades given to students in 2024–25 were As, up from about 25 percent in 2005–06. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts announced that starting in the fall of 2027, it would refrain from giving grades to incoming students during their first term, in order to “curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals.”

Family Structure

According to Wilcox, focusing on family structures is likely a better solution than inflating or avoiding grades. He advocates, among other things, making Americans aware of the difference it makes to kids’ success when both parents are raising them in a stable home.

“Not every couple who are having kids should get married and not every couple who are married should stay married,” Wilcox said. “But it’s important when it comes to having and raising kids to do what you can to be married and to stay married.”

In an effort to keep parents together, some advocates have called for the removal of what they call the “marriage penalty,” which occurs when two individuals with similar incomes marry, pushing their joint income to a level that exceeds welfare eligibility.

“Marriage penalties are one of the most damaging and misguided features of the federal welfare system,” said Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) in a statement. “For decades, Washington has punished families for getting married, discouraging responsibility and trapping parents and children in long-term dependency.”

Based on federal data, the IFS states that only 3 percent of subsidized housing serves two adults with children, compared with 30 percent that goes to a female head with children.

The IFS report states that family trends in America are tilting in a slightly positive direction, however. The proportion of American children living in married families hit a low point of 64 percent in 2012, and has since increased to 66 percent as of 2024.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 21:00

US Navy Live-Fire Tests Drone Sailboat With Missile Launcher

Once known primarily for capturing dramatic footage from inside hurricanes and tropical storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, Saildrone's autonomous surface vessels have evolved into dual-use platforms that recently demonstrated the ability to deploy Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM).

California-based Saildrone revealed in a press release that its unmanned surface vehicle (USV) launched two Lockheed Martin JAGM missiles for the first time during the Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii.

According to Saildrone, the 20-meter Surveyor drone participated in the live-fire exercise in coordination with the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.

The Surveyor used targeting data on a surrogate high-speed surface craft and executed the engagement through the Navy's Adjunct Remote Engagement System, or ARES, a remotely operated combat system. The test demonstrated how drone vessels could supplement the missile capacity of carrier strike groups while remaining deployed in contested waters, such as the Strait of Hormuz or other maritime chokepoints, for extended periods.

"This successful live-fire demonstration was the result of pairing one of the most tried and trusted munitions with the most operationally deployed class of USV on the planet," Saildrone CEO Richard Jenkins wrote in a statement.

Jenkins noted, "Not only does this deliver mission-ready, kinetic USV capability today, but it also de-risks and accelerates our journey of fitting more sophisticated kinetic capabilities, like the Mk70 launcher, to our larger platform, the Saildrone Specter. Saildrone will continue to develop our platform capabilities to meet the rapidly evolving operational requirements of our customers."

The US Navy has adopted the drone-boat warfare playbook pioneered by Ukraine, recently deploying Saronic Corsair one-way attack drone boats near the Strait of Hormuz to target Iran's Bandar Abbas naval base.

More importantly, drone-boat operations and live-fire testing signal what could be a massive Department of War procurement supercycle spanning unmanned surface vessels and Group 1 through Group 3 aerial drones.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 20:25

For Decades, The United States Ignored Latin America. All That Changed Under Trump.

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times,

In a pre-dawn raid in January, Delta Force soldiers burst in on a sleeping Nicolás Maduro, capturing the Venezuelan leader wanted on U.S. narco-terrorism charges.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Public Domain

The dramatic end of Maduro's control over a country emblematic of left-wing politics underscored Latin America's shift to the political right.

Since late 2025, the leadership has flipped from left to right in five Latin American countries: Bolivia, Chile, Honduras, Peru, and Colombia. Uruguay did the opposite, shifting from right to left in November 2024, the same month Trump was reelected.

The conservative realignment under Trump comes as his administration has refocused on America's southern neighbors in what has been dubbed the "Donroe Doctrine" - a play on the Monroe Doctrine, which asserted U.S. dominance over the region.

Gone is the "pink tide," a wave of "soft" communism that emerged in Latin America in the late 1990s and extended into the 2000s before reemerging in the early 2020s.

The era gave rise to prominent left-wing leaders such as Maduro's predecessor, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, and Bolivia's Evo Morales, whose takeover of oil and gas production tanked his country's economy.

Experts believe a combination of Trump's influence, along with economic and security concerns - two areas of strength for conservative candidates - has triggered a reversal of fortunes for leftist governments in the region.

Trump endorsed a number of right-wing candidates in Latin America. In December 2025, he endorsed Chile's José Antonio Kast, who won a landslide election against the communist candidate Jeannette Jara in December 2025. That same month, Nasry Asfura, a Trump-backed conservative, snatched victory away from Honduras's socialist government.

The president also supported Colombia's Abelardo de la Espriella, who this year edged out Iván Cepeda, a left-wing opponent aligned with outgoing leader Gustavo Petro, a former Marxist guerrilla.

In four of the five countries, conservatives also made gains in their respective legislatures. Only Colombia saw the left actually gain legislative seats, but neither side holds a majority in its two chambers.

In Bolivia, no party won an outright majority, but the conservative government became the largest force in both chambers of its legislature, while conservative factions together make up a supermajority in both chambers of Bolivia's government. The former leftist government retained only two seats.

Honduras's single legislative chamber gained conservative seats on the coattails of Asfura's victory. In Chile's legislature, a conservative coalition controls the lower chamber, while the upper chamber is evenly split. Likewise, Peru's conservative bloc holds a plurality but not a majority in the lower chamber, while the upper chamber is evenly divided.

Crime and Economics

Latin America's conservative trend was sparked by disappointment with leftist governments, which led to increased organized crime and inflation, according to Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a Germany-based international political analysis group.

Of 16 democracies with populations greater than 1 million people, 10 have changed political direction since 2022, mostly from left to right, according to the report and recent updates.

Of those examined, only Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay currently have left-wing governments.

Venezuela, which wasn't counted as a democracy, remains in political limbo after Maduro's removal, leaving his Vice President Delcy Rodríguez in charge. Cuba remains under communist control that took root in the 1950s. Another country not included in the survey was Nicaragua, ruled by former left-wing guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega, who has been consolidating power since 2007. He recently announced the nation would cease to hold elections.

Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez attends a ceremony for the signing of an agreement between Chevron Venezuela and the national government at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 13, 2026. Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images

Guyana, which has about 1 million residents, holds democratic elections but remains firmly in the grasp of socialists.

Just as Maduro's demise signaled the end of the old communist guard, figures such as Argentina's golden chainsaw-wielding leader Javier Milei symbolize the rise of conservative populist leaders.

"Figures such as Javier Milei in Argentina and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador embody the new political mood with their populist strategies, while moderate conservatives such as Luis Abinader in the Dominican Republic prioritize stability and pragmatism," according to the report.

U.S. policy has reinforced the region's conservative vibe, the report said, leading to positive relationships with right-wing leaders.

"This is hardly surprising given that Washington recently announced its intent to actively support like-minded political forces in the Western Hemisphere, to expand trade relations, and to stabilize Latin American countries in line with its own interests," the report states.

Argentinian presidential candidate Javier Milei lifts a chainsaw during a rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 25, 2023. 'Trump Effect'

Joshua Trevino, senior director for the Western Hemisphere Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said having a conservative in the White House has driven change in Latin America.

Trump's influence and policies have contributed to Latin America turning away from socialism and communism, he said.

"So what we see is a Trump administration effect to a lot of it," he told The Epoch Times. "We can have a lot more open optimism in Latin America than we previously did."

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 19:50

IRS Announces 7 Percent Interest Rate For Overpayments And Underpayments

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The Internal Revenue Service has announced interest rates for tax underpayments and overpayments for the fourth quarter of 2026, keeping them at 7 percent for individual taxpayers.

The Internal Revenue Service in Washington on Jan. 6, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

When taxpayers do not pay taxes, penalties, and other charges on time, the IRS charges interest on the underpayment. Conversely, when taxpayers pay more tax than they actually owe, the agency pays interest on the overpayment. Those rates are determined quarterly. The 7 percent rate for overpayments and underpayments takes effect Oct. 1, according to the IRS.

For corporations, the overpayment rate is 6 percent, while the rate on the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 is 4.5 percent. The underpayment rate is 7 percent, the same as for individual taxpayers, while large corporate underpayments carry a 9 percent rate. All of the rates are unchanged from the third quarter.

According to an April 26 IRS update cited by The Epoch Times, interest on underpayments begins accruing on the due date of the amount owed and continues until the balance is paid in full.

Interest on overpayments is calculated based on factors including the tax filing due date, payment dates, and when the IRS receives a return in a format it can process.

Taxpayers can file claims if they believe the amount of overpayment interest they received was insufficient.

The rates were announced based on the federal short-term rate for July, which was determined to be 4 percent.

For taxpayers other than corporations, the overpayment and underpayment rates are calculated by adding 3 percentage points to the federal short-term rate.

For corporations, the underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points. The corporate overpayment rate adds 2 percentage points, except for the portion of an overpayment exceeding $10,000, for which only 0.5 percentage point is added.

Penalty Relief

The IRS has also introduced a new automatic penalty relief process for taxpayers, known as the Automatic Exemption from Penalty, or AEP.

The program is available to eligible taxpayers who filed and paid their taxes on time during the previous three years, or during 12 consecutive quarters for quarterly filers. Those who qualify automatically receive relief from common penalties including failure to file, failure to pay, and failure to deposit.

When the IRS applies AEP to an eligible tax return, the taxpayer receives a notice confirming that the relief was granted.

Taxpayers who do not qualify for AEP can still seek penalty relief on the basis of reasonable cause, which the agency considers case by case.

In a July 8 statement, the IRS said it would begin phasing out the long-standing First Time Abate, or FTA, relief system in favor of AEP during the summer. Under FTA, taxpayers had to contact the agency before the IRS reviewed their account to determine whether they qualified. AEP makes that process automatic for eligible taxpayers.

During the transition, some taxpayers who qualify for AEP may still receive penalty notices involving 2025 or 2026 returns. In those cases, the IRS says taxpayers can contact the agency and request FTA relief.

IRS CEO Frank J. Bisignano said the automatic exemption reflects the agency's effort to make payment of taxes owed simpler and more consistent.

He added that taxpayers with a history of paying on time should not have to formally request relief that would routinely be granted.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 18:40

"They Can't Define A Woman": Bill Maher Says Democrats "Opened The Door" With "Crazy" Cultural Issues

Bill Maher says Democrats are still paying a political price for cultural positions that leave voters thinking the party has "lost their minds."

The 'Real Time' host argued that Republicans have benefited from Democrats continuing to focus on cultural issues where, in his telling, much of the country believes the party has gone off the rails.

Bill Maher MOCKS Democrats for the "crazy stuff" that is STILL costing them elections: "They can't define a woman," and "they think the WNBA should be full of men."

He says the country thinks they "lost their minds."

MAHER: "The Democrats made it a lot easier for [Republicans] by harping on cultural issues where the country thought they had lost their minds. I feel like the elections we're having these days are still that."

"The Democrats are saying, 'These guys are crooks, and inflation is still high. We can do better, and we can give you healthcare.' And the other people are saying, 'Yeah, but they want to get rid of Thanksgiving. We like Thanksgiving.'"

"And then they can't define a woman, and they think the WNBA should be full of men, and just crazy stuff. And so they kind of opened the door for that."

A New York Times/Ipsos poll found 79% of Americans say trans athletes should not compete in women's sports. That includes 94% of Republicans and even 67% of Democrats.

The party is losing this issue with its own base and still won't drop it.

— The Vigilant Fox ? (@VigilantFox) August 22, 2026

"The Democrats made it a lot easier for [Republicans] by harping on cultural issues where the country thought they had lost their minds," Maher said.

He contrasted Democratic messaging about corruption, inflation and healthcare with the sort of cultural arguments that can cut through everything else, joking that voters instead hear that Democrats "want to get rid of Thanksgiving."

Then Maher got to the issue he clearly believes remains politically toxic: "They can't define a woman, and they think the WNBA should be full of men, and just crazy stuff."

"And so they kind of opened the door for that," he added.

Polling cited by Vigilant Fox underscores the problem... A New York Times/Ipsos survey found that 79% of Americans said transgender female athletes should not be allowed to compete in women's sports.

The opposition crossed party lines, including 94% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 18:05

Fauci's Lawyers Set Up Legal Defense Fund

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s lawyers have created a fund for people to donate for his legal expenses.

The fund “has been established to help pay the costs of the ongoing legal representation of Dr. Fauci,” according to its website.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, testifies before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in Washington on July 29, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

All contributions are final and non-refundable, the lawyers said.

Fauci, 85, was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 until late 2022.

“Dr. Fauci is facing an unprecedented legal barrage for a retired civil servant, and he deserves a robust defense against these unfounded and frivolous actions,” David Schertler, a lawyer representing Fauci, told Reuters. “Dr. Fauci has not done anything wrong, and we are prepared to fight back against this shameful harassment of an honorable man who dedicated his career to saving lives.”

Fauci will not receive any payment or other form of distribution from the legal defense fund, his lawyers said. It is set up as a trust with an independent corporate trustee, according to Fauci’s legal team.

Neither Fauci nor his lawyers have control over how the money will be distributed or how the fund will be managed, his lawyers said. Invoices submitted by Fauci’s attorneys will be reviewed by an independent expert adviser, they said. Once all of Fauci’s litigation concludes, any remaining funds will be distributed to charity, his lawyers said.

In his last year of service, Fauci made $480,654, according to financial data obtained by Open the Books. The net worth of Fauci and his wife, who was the chief bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health until 2024, reached $15 million in 2023, according to a financial disclosure released by the transparency organization.

Fauci’s role as head of an agency that sent money to a laboratory in Wuhan, China, near where the first COVID-19 cases were detected, and his statements about the research the agency funded as well as the origins of COVID-19, have come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of senators obtaining hundreds of pages of his diary and emails he and others sent during the pandemic.

The diary showed Fauci was informed by many virology experts that COVID-19 bore a feature that may signal manipulation by scientists. Just months later, Fauci promoted a paper with which he had secretly assisted that said it was implausible COVID-19 came from a lab.

After Fauci in July refused to answer questions from senators about the diary and other documents, a Senate committee voted to hold him in contempt and sent a criminal referral to federal prosecutors. The Department of Justice has not commented on the referral, and Fauci has not been charged as of yet.

Fauci has a pardon covering conduct from Jan. 1, 2014, through Jan. 19, 2025. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), among others, has said that he should be prosecuted because he has allegedly made false statements after the 2025 date, in addition to the contempt he showed Congress.

Paul wrote on X: “For years we were told Fauci was the infallible expert who never made a mistake and never lied. Now his lawyers are admitting the legal exposure is so large they need a special fund to handle it. You can’t fundraise the truth away.”

Fauci also faces multiple probes by state officials, including Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who issued a subpoena to Fauci and said he would investigate whether the infectious disease expert “personally profited off the COVID ‘guidance’ he issued.”

The legal fund was established after Dr. David Morens, a senior adviser to Fauci for 16 years, admitted to defrauding the government by destroying records subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Morens faces up to five years in prison.

Fauci testified in a public hearing in 2024 that he was not aware of a conspiracy to evade Freedom of Information Act requests, after emails from Morens that were released by journalists and lawmakers detailed such a scheme.

“I can send stuff to Tony on his private gmail, or hand it to him at work or at his house,” Morens wrote in one email. “He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.”

In several missives released by Paul in 2025, Fauci instructed aides to delete emails after they read them.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 17:30

Treasury Bars Scammy ESG Funds From Trump Accounts, Citing Left-Wing 'Political Activism' Concerns

The Treasury Department is moving forward with rules that would exclude investment funds built around scammy, globalist environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria from Trump Accounts.

Fox Business reports that under the newly proposed framework, qualifying indexes would need to track broad segments of US or global equity markets using objective financial criteria, rather than criteria crafted by social justice warriors who seek to make the West energy-poor.

"Corporate America has rejected ESG ideology, and we will not allow it to be a part of Trump Accounts," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the outlet in a statement.

Treasury Department bars ESG funds from Trump Accounts, citing 'political activism' concerns: https://t.co/pRvofRHZB3

( TS: Aug 21 2026, 1:21 PM ET )​‍‌​​​‌‍‍​‍​‌‌​​‍‍​‍‍‍​​​‌​‌​‍‌​​‍‌​‍ pic.twitter.com/FmVLgAhwbR

— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 21, 2026

ESG scores have been hijacked and "weaponized" by social justice warriors over the years. For instance, large tobacco companies have received higher ESG scores than Elon Musk's Tesla.

The ESG Ruse Continues: Legacy Tobacco Companies Are Posting Higher ESG Scores Than EV Maker Tesla https://t.co/jlOisi3UNJ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 15, 2023

"Exxon is rated top ten best in world for environment, social & governance (ESG) by S&P 500, while Tesla didn't make the list!" Elon Musk wrote on X several years ago.

Musk is right...

• Companies With Good ESG Scores Pollute Just As Much As Those With Low Ones, New Analysis Finds

Meanwhile, earlier this year, the ESG ruse continued with MSCI's decision to assign SpaceX the "lowest possible ESG rating," while Big Oil and defense companies scored high on the list.

ESG investing has drawn criticism from Republicans who say these funds incorporate ESG standards that may subordinate investor returns to political priorities.

Trump Accounts launched on July 4 and have attracted more than 7 million registrations, the outlet said, citing a Treasury spokeswoman. More than 2 million enrolled children are eligible for a $1,000 federal contribution.

James Lindsay, the author of "Race Marxism" and other books challenging woke narratives, has noted that ESG is merely a weapon in the hands of "social justice warriors" seeking to shake down corporations and a tool for those attempting to impose a "one-world government."

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 16:55

Waste Of The Day: Millionaire Mortgages

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

The Department of Agriculture's Section 502 loan programs help low-income families buy homes with mortgages that don't require a down payment. But in 2013, an investigation by Reuters found dozens of millionaires took advantage to purchase vacation and rental homes.

Though the millionaires later repaid their loans, the program as a whole covered $500 million in losses from defaults in 2013, or $715 million in today's money.

That's according to the "Wastebook" reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.

Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname "Dr. No" by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn't stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.

Coburn's Wastebook 2013 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth nearly $30 billion, including the loans for millionaires.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world's largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.

Key facts: Reuters analyzed mortgage records from 2003 to 2011 and found more than 180 USDA-backed loans went to borrowers who reported annual incomes above $500,000. That was an apparent violation of the program rules. Loans were only meant for buyers whose income was not above the median income of their community.

The records showed at least 500 USDA-backed mortgages worth $500,000 or more, including more than 90 exceeding $1 million. Loans appeared in resort communities including Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, California wine country, and the "thriving seaside enclave" of Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

One retired advertising executive told Reuters he used a USDA loan to buy a house in North Carolina. "I could have bought a house another way," he said, "but this allowed us to travel, and our hope in a few years is to purchase a beach property in Surf City that we can rent out now and retire in later."

The program's definition of "rural" was also generous. Reuters found at least 51,600 mortgages worth $6 billion in cities designated as urban by the U.S. Census, including places near Los Angeles, Washington, Seattle and Austin. Another 300,000 loans worth $38 billion were located in areas that "straddled" urban and rural boundaries.

USDA said the overwhelming majority of borrowers were the low- and moderate-income families the program was intended to help. The average applicant earned about $48,000 and borrowed $131,000.

Summary: There is a place for government programs that help families who cannot otherwise afford a home, but people earning $1 million per year probably should not need help affording the down payment.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 16:20

Portable 1MW Kaleidos Microreactor Secures Critical Nuclear Fuel Deal Through 2030s

Authored by Aamir Khollam via Interesting Engineering,

Radiant has secured a long-term source of nuclear fuel for its Kaleidos microreactor, removing a potential supply hurdle as the company prepares the system for deployment.

Kaleidos transportable nuclear reactor delivery.Radiant Nuclear

Standard Nuclear will fabricate TRISO fuel for Radiant under an agreement covering planned Kaleidos deployments through the early 2030s. The deal gives the reactor developer a dedicated fuel supplier as its program moves toward full-scale testing and production.

Fuel availability remains a critical challenge for advanced nuclear developers. A reactor cannot reach customers without a reliable source of qualified fuel. Radiant is betting that greater control over its supply chain will help avoid that problem.

Fuel supply secured

Standard Nuclear will produce fuel specifically for the Kaleidos reactor. TRISO fuel consists of uranium particles protected by several layers of ceramic and carbon materials. Advanced reactor developers have adopted the technology for its ability to contain radioactive materials within each fuel particle.

Kaleidos is a 1-megawatt microreactor designed for transport to customer sites. Each unit can operate for up to five years before refueling.

Tori Shivanandan, Radiant's president and COO, said securing fuel represents an important step toward larger-scale deployment. "Securing the fuel supply chain is a strategic advantage to deploying at scale," she said.

Radiant also plans to control the reactor's broader fuel cycle. Customers would not handle fresh or spent fuel at their locations. The company instead plans to manage fueling, refueling, and storage through its own facilities.

Reactor testing advances

Kaleidos is now undergoing full-scale testing at Idaho National Laboratory's DOME facility. The Department of Energy selected Radiant through a competitive process and granted it exclusive access to the facility for one year.

Engineers will test the reactor at full scale and full power during extended runs. The campaign will use the same reactor design and fuel specifications intended for customer deployments.

Full-scale testing could reveal engineering challenges that smaller demonstrations cannot easily expose. Radiant says crews can transport Kaleidos by land, sea, or air. The reactor has a planned operating life of 20 years.

A 300,000-square-foot facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will support the company's manufacturing and fuel operations. The site will handle reactor production, fueling, and fuel storage as Radiant prepares for larger deployments.

Customers already waiting

Equinix has signed a commercial agreement for 20 Kaleidos units. The deal gives Radiant an early commercial pathway for its microreactor.

The company has also secured a project with the Department of the Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit. Radiant will develop and operate a microreactor at Buckley Space Force Base under that effort. Those projects give Kaleidos potential applications across commercial infrastructure and U.S. defense facilities.

Radiant still needs to complete testing, establish repeatable manufacturing, and navigate regulatory requirements before widespread deployment can begin. The Standard Nuclear agreement resolves an important piece of that puzzle.

Radiant now has a committed fuel fabrication partner as it works to move Kaleidos from testing into production and eventual operation.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 15:10

What Florida Students Have Been Mandated To Learn Will Make Leftists Lose It

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Florida is doing what no blue-state classroom dares: forcing students to confront the actual body count of communism instead of romanticizing it.

Starting this fall, every public school student from sixth grade onward will receive mandatory instruction on the history and evils of communism under standards signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The curriculum covers the Soviet Union, the Chinese Communist Revolution, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and the recent capture of Nicolás Maduro.

? BREAKING: Florida students are being REQUIRED this Fall to learn about the evils of Communism under a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis

BASED ????

"Starting in 6th grade, they will touch [on] the dangers of the Soviet Union, the Chinese Communist Revolution, North Korea, Cuba... pic.twitter.com/LcqfyOhrzU

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 21, 2026

It details the mass deaths under Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, the failure of collectivism, and the superiority of free enterprise and private property.

?? COMMUNISM — This fall, Florida will make it MANDATORY for every middle and high school student to take a yearly class on the history and evils of communism.

The curriculum, developed, covers the mass deaths under Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, the failure of... pic.twitter.com/YlgSzPxk5K

— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) August 21, 2026

Education leaders have been blunt: too many young Americans romanticize socialism because they were never taught its real-world toll.

The requirement builds on Florida's existing Victims of Communism Day, which already mandated at least 45 minutes of annual instruction on those same regimes.

The fuller standards, approved by the State Board of Education in November 2025 and updated this year to include Maduro's autocratic rule and subsequent fall, take effect for the 2026-2027 school year.

DeSantis has been consistent. "The truth will set us free," he said when signing the underlying bill, adding "We will not allow our students to live in ignorance, nor be indoctrinated by Communist apologists in schools."

"To the contrary, we will ensure students in Florida are taught the truth about the evils and dangers of Communism," DeSantis further urged.

In a more recent post he added, "The DSA may try to make Castro out to be a HERO - but FLORIDA students know better!"

Former Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas put it this way when the standards were adopted: "With the resurgence of communist ideologies across the United States and throughout the world, it is more important than ever for students to understand the catastrophic failures and human suffering caused by communist regimes."

The standards themselves ensure students learn "the truth about how communist regimes suppress freedoms, abuse power, and inflict widespread suffering."

Instruction begins in middle school and continues through high school. Students will examine domestic communist movements and their tactics in the United States, the economic and political conditions that preceded communist takeovers, the spread of Cuban-style communism through Latin America, and direct comparisons between communism, totalitarianism, and the founding principles of American freedom and democracy.

The capture of Maduro has been folded in so the lessons stay current.

Florida's large exile communities from Cuba and Venezuela already know the difference between slogans and reality. The state is simply making sure every student gets the same clarity before they reach campuses where those slogans still circulate.

While Florida insists on historical accuracy, other jurisdictions continue to push mandatory ideological content in the opposite direction.

In Texas, public school students from Humble ISD's Kingwood and Atascocita high schools were recently bused to an Islamic center so they could "experience Islam."

The trip included observation of midday prayer, a presentation by a CAIR representative, and promotional claims that students left "changed." No equivalent taxpayer-funded field trips to churches or synagogues appear to have been organized.

At UCLA medical school, first-year students have been required to take a course on structural racism and health equity that includes mandatory reading promoting "fat positivity."

One assigned essay argues that the term "obesity" is a slur used to exact violence on fat people and frames weight loss as essentially hopeless. Former Harvard Medical School dean Jeffrey Flier called the material "extensive and dangerous misinformation" and "pedagogical malpractice."

At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a required first-year education course for future teachers leaked PowerPoint materials that prioritize leftist framing of immigration, race, and gender over basic classroom skills.

Slides instruct students to reject the term "illegal immigrants," emphasize "humanizing language," and treat resistance to ICE as a professional duty. A whistleblower noted the near-total absence of practical instruction on how to teach math or reading.

In Washington state's Olympia School District, officials refused parental requests to opt students out of Pride-themed lessons, declaring that such opt-outs would be "offensive and demeaning."

Non-participation was treated as an unexcused absence. The lessons form part of a broader gender-inclusive curriculum tied to state standards.

California has gone further. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring student ID cards in middle schools, high schools, and colleges to carry the Trevor Project's LGBTQ crisis hotline.

The organization has faced criticism for its approach to gender issues and parental notification. Newsom framed the mandate as a direct response to federal policy changes under the Trump administration.

In Maryland's Montgomery County, LGBTQ-inclusive books were made mandatory reading in the English language arts curriculum with no parental opt-out and no advance notice required for most of the materials. Parents and even local Muslim organizations objected that the policy violated parental rights.

And in Kansas, sixth-graders at Marshall Elementary School in Eureka were told they could not name Charlie Kirk, President Trump, or Jesus Christ as role models in a "Find Your Voice" assignment.

The guidance counselor reportedly became angry when those names were suggested and excluded political and religious figures entirely. The American Center for Law & Justice has filed a civil rights complaint.

These examples reflect a pattern in which certain ideological frameworks are treated as non-negotiable while the documented human costs of 20th-century communism are often soft-pedaled or ignored.

Florida has chosen the opposite path: require the history, include the body count, and let students judge the results for themselves.

The new standards do not claim communism is the only source of historical evil. They simply refuse to leave students unequipped when they encounter professors or activists who still treat failed experiments as moral inspiration.

In a state that absorbed hundreds of thousands of people who fled those experiments, the choice is neither surprising nor complicated.

Florida students will now learn, as a matter of required curriculum, what the rest of the country too often prefers to forget.

The DSA can keep trying to rehabilitate Castro. The classrooms in the Sunshine State will keep teaching the opposite.

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Tyler Durden Sat, 08/22/2026 - 14:00