Crooked Bough News Round-up

— Seattle Mayor Targets 'Surveillance Pricing' At Grocery Stores

 

at 8/9/26 11:25am

Seattle Mayor Targets 'Surveillance Pricing' At Grocery Stores Seattle leaders are moving forward with a first-of-its-kind proposal aimed at preventing grocery retailers from using consumers' personal data to charge different prices for the same products. The ordinance, backed by Mayor Katie Wilson and City Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster, would prohibit large grocery chains from using information such as browsing history, social media activity, employment status, race, gender, or chatbot interactions to personalize prices, according to Wilson's website.  Instead, retailers would be required to publicly display uniform prices while still allowing traditional discounts for seniors, veterans, loyalty programs, and other transparent promotions. "This policy stops corporations from using personal data to squeeze more money out of shoppers," Wilson said. "The same product, in the same store, should cost the same no matter who's pushing the cart." The announcement on Wilson's site says that the measure is designed to curb AI-driven price discrimination as grocery costs continue to rise. The proposal follows a Consumer Reports investigation that found Instacart tested AI pricing systems that charged different customers different prices for identical grocery items. It also comes after Washington's attorney general sued Albertsons over allegedly misleading "buy one, get one" promotions that did not actually reduce prices. Councilmember Rinck argued the legislation would establish "guardrails" around how retailers use customer data, particularly as many households face higher food costs and reduced SNAP benefits. Foster added that consumers "shouldn't have to wonder whether they're being charged extra because of an algorithm." Labor and privacy advocates also praised the proposal. UFCW 3000 President Faye Guenther accused grocery companies of pursuing "AI-powered surveillance pricing tech" to create "fake discounts," while privacy advocates said the ordinance would help prevent algorithmic price discrimination before the practice becomes widespread. If approved, Seattle would become the first U.S. city to adopt rules specifically banning the use of sensitive personal data to set individualized grocery prices. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 13:25

— UK Police Literally Have An 'Elite Squad' To Flag Spicy Social Media Posts...

 

at 8/9/26 10:50am

UK Police Literally Have An 'Elite Squad' To Flag Spicy Social Media Posts... Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, Britain's latest free speech assault is underway. An elite police unit set up by the Labour government has already flagged more than 100 social media posts to local forces, monitoring online "protest related activity" in a move critics brand a sinister step toward state control of speech. The National Internet Intelligence Investigations team, created in the wake of the 2024 Southport riots, began operations in February. Freedom of Information figures obtained by the Telegraph and reported today show it has made 106 referrals of "suspicious" posts to forces across the country. An elite police squad which was set up to monitor social media in the wake of the Southport riots has flagged more than 100 posts to local forces. Political opponents have described the squad as "sinister" and said it represents a further erosion of free speech and civil... pic.twitter.com/g8YGewbIVn — The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 8, 2026 In June alone, 50 of those referrals came as public anger boiled over in Southampton after police bodycam footage exposed officers handcuffing dying teenage murder victim Henry Nowak while accepting a false complaint of 'racism' from his Sikh killer. When the unit was first announced, then policing minister Dame Diana Johnson described it as "a dedicated function at a national level for exploiting internet intelligence to help local forces manage public safety threats and risks." New elite unit flags more than 100 social media posts to police forces as free speech fears grow https://t.co/DB5IhBmZVu — Daily Mail (@DailyMail) August 8, 2026 The National Police Coordination Centre claims the squad "supports policing's understanding of protest-related activity in the online environment by developing a broader picture of emerging, potential risks." Its remit, officials say, focuses on "providing strategic insight and improving awareness of protest-related developments that may have relevance to policing." Reform UK leader Nigel Farage commented "This is the beginning of the state controlling free speech. It is sinister, dangerous and must be fought." Police have refused to disclose which posts were flagged, citing exemptions around crime prevention. The pattern is clear enough. The unit was born from the Southport disorder that followed the murders of three girls by Axel Rudakubana. In the information vacuum, online discussion of the attacker's background and wider immigration failures was blamed for fanning unrest. Now the same apparatus is trained on any online activity that might signal public discontent with official narratives. This new monitoring squad slots neatly alongside the Home Office's long-running Research, Information and Communications Unit - RICU - a shadowy "thought police" operation exposed for controlling the mass migration narrative. That unit has intervened after migrant attacks, including the Henry Nowak murder, to shape family statements, briefed police to portray protesters as unsympathetic thugs rather than citizens with grievances, and treated online criticism of immigration policy as a threat requiring behavioural change. It also sits on top of a growing machinery of digital control that has already turned Britain into a global outlier for speech arrests. In 2024 alone, nearly 10,000 people were arrested for "grossly offensive" social media posts under communications laws - an average of 30 arrests a day. Some forces clocked rates 20 times higher than others. Violent offenders were released early to free up cells for those jailed over online comments. The machinery has been building for years. In 2024, a man was arrested simply for posting "anti-establishment rhetoric" after the riots. Authorities prioritised thought crime over street crime, even as prisons filled with people whose only offence was typing the wrong words. The Online Safety Act handed regulators sweeping powers to force platforms to remove "harmful" content under threat of massive fines. Critics called it a censor's charter from the start. Government units that once hunted lockdown dissenters pivoted to monitoring mass migration critics. London Mayor Sadiq Khan openly called for a dedicated government social media disinformation unit. The trajectory is consistent: expand the definition of threat, then expand the surveillance. Layer on mandatory digital ID and biometric tracking, age verification systems that end online anonymity, and proposals that treat social media access itself as a privilege granted by the state. What begins as "protecting the public from protest risks" becomes a permanent apparatus for mapping, flagging, and suppressing dissent. Authoritarianism does not need tanks in the streets. It arrives with a login and a national internet intelligence team. The 106 flagged posts are not the end. They are the proof of concept. An elite unit now sits at the centre of British policing with a mandate to scan the public conversation for signs of discontent and feed those findings to local forces. The official language is careful. The practical effect is a standing capability to treat online speech as a public order threat. Free expression does not survive that environment for long. The only question left is how many more posts, how many more referrals, and how many more arrests will be required before the public refuses to accept the new normal. Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 12:50

— Lake Mead Hits Lowest Level On Record Amid Decade-Long Western Drought

 

at 8/9/26 10:15am

Lake Mead Hits Lowest Level On Record Amid Decade-Long Western Drought Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir by storage capacity, has fallen to its lowest level on record as a drought throughout western states continues. Bureau of Reclamation data indicate that the reservoir’s surface elevation rose to 1,040.50 feet above sea level on Thursday, below the previous low of 1,040.58 feet set in July 2022, when the lake first fell to a low following years of drought. Hoover Dam forms Lake Mead along the Colorado River on the Nevada-Arizona border, and holds water for approximately 40 million people in seven Western states, as well as parts of Mexico. In addition, Lake Mead generates hydropower for customers in California, Arizona, and Nevada, which is threatened by the falling water levels. As Kimberley Hayek reports for The Epoch Times, the Colorado River Basin has been in a so-called megadrought for more than 20 years. In 1999, Lake Mead was near capacity, but by 2022 its surface had fallen by nearly 176 feet after a period that is the driest on record throughout many parts of the West. Southern Nevada gets nearly 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority has long viewed the Colorado River allotment as its largest and most critical resource, leading to conservation efforts over the years that have slashed per-person use going back to the early 2000s, and nearly all indoor water is recycled. When Lake Mead first fell below 1,075 feet in 2021, federal officials declared a Level 1 shortage, and further declines prompted deeper cuts. Nevada’s share of the river has fallen by billions of gallons over the course of several years. Hoover Dam also produces thousands of gigawatt-hours of electricity annually. At Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell, Lake Mead’s companion reservoir, the level was 3,521 feet on Thursday, down nearly 33 feet from a year ago. Electricity production becomes infeasible once the surface falls to 3,490 feet and below. Both lakes still operate despite being well below the elevation levels needed for reliable power and storage. Population growth has also added to the pressure. Nevada ranked near the top of states for growth in recent years, and Southern Nevada is home to approximately 70 percent of the state’s residents. Lake Mead National Recreation Area attracts millions of visitors each year for a range of activities, including boating, fishing and hiking. Low water has exposed once submerged features, such as the ruins of the town of St. Thomas. There is also a World War II-era B-29 bomber that was submerged in the lake after crashing almost 70 years ago. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 12:15

— The Democrat Embrace Of Islamo-Socialism Is Party Suicide

 

at 8/9/26 9:40am

The Democrat Embrace Of Islamo-Socialism Is Party Suicide Authored by David Sultzer via AmericanThinker.com, The Democrat party leadership—sensing its mortal danger from a very well-organized and radicalized Islamo-socialist movement—is trying to stay afloat, claiming that the Democrat Party is a “big tent” where the socialists can find a welcome home: Senator Chuck Schumer thinks Democrat Socialists — who want to oust him as Leader — make the Democrat party stronger. REPORTER: “Is the rise of the DSA good for your party?" SCHUMER: “Being a big tent party is a strength not a weakness.” pic.twitter.com/17hSbCbtMx — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 4, 2026 But ironically, as the “big tent” expands, the number of constituencies inside the tent shrinks. The traditional power bases of the Democrat party, the working class and minorities, are not part of the Islamo-socialist movement. Instead, the “socialist” part is comprised almost uniformly of downwardly mobile, white college-credentialed losers. CNN: Abdul El-Sayed won 0 of the 15 counties with the lowest share of adults with college degrees, but 13 of the 15 counties with the highest share. "El-Sayed's support came dramatically from those areas... More from elite circles than from the working class circles." pic.twitter.com/rY2VqhRixN — Bobby LaValley (@Bobby_LaVallley) August 6, 2026 All members of the Democrat leadership, without exception, can see the danger to them from the Islamo-socialist movement, as well as the danger to their traditional constituencies—and, for that matter, to our constitutional experiment now 250 years old. Most, as epitomized by Chuck Schumer, are willing to sacrifice the country and appease the Islamo-socialist crocodile, hoping it will eat them last. Others, such as Julian Epstein, writing today at the NY Post, are sounding all the alarm bells, namely, that such appeasement is not merely “a recipe for moral decay,” but “for political suicide” as well: Democrats aren’t coddling Scandinavian-style socialists; they’re getting into bed with a nihilistic, deconstructionist brand of third-worldism. It’s an ideology that seeks the elimination of prisons, policing, borders, the Senate, the presidency, the Supreme Court and democratic free markets. A worldview that aligns with genocidal jihadist movements like Hamas. This is, Epstein says, fracturing the party “as working-class voters flee an increasingly toxic Democratic brand [and] the party’s newfound embrace of anti-American extremists is likely to produce big losses nationally...” Moreover, as to the socialist dreams of Bernie Sanders, Epstein criticizes it as a “delusion that attaches no importance to generating wealth—and only cares about redistributing it.” Epstein ultimately opines that the rise of the Islamo-socialist movement is part of a bigger problem for Democrats: [T]hat post-modern liberalism is failing. The more we spend on the welfare state, it seems, the worse the outcomes. It is a fascinating essay, well worth the read. And as Epstein concludes. “Democrats can’t run from this lunacy in November.” And naturally, Victor Davis Hanson gets it: Victor Davis Hanson: The Unintelligent, Arrogant Democratic Socialists Are About to Receive a Reality Check: National Elections Michigan's Democratic Senate primary became the most expensive Senate primary in the state's history. Haley Stevens' loss to Abdul El-Sayed says a… pic.twitter.com/9A8W2qACIR — Daily Signal (@DailySignal) August 7, 2026 Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 11:40

— Apple Tests Chinese Memory Chips As Supply Crunch Pushes PC Giants Toward CXMT

 

at 8/9/26 9:05am

Apple Tests Chinese Memory Chips As Supply Crunch Pushes PC Giants Toward CXMT After months of lobbying the Trump administration for clearance to purchase Chinese memory chips, Apple appears to be nearing the point where it can tap China's domestic chip market. The push follows what the iPhone maker has described as "unsustainable" pricing from the memory "cartel," namely SK Hynix, Samsung, Micron, and SanDisk, whose production has been soaked up by unprecedented demand from hyperscalers.  The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday morning that Apple is closer than ever to using memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese company that the Pentagon has put on a blacklist because of alleged connections to the People's Liberation Army. Apple is currently testing CXMT memory chips across its product portfolio, including iPhones and MacBooks, according to the report. The report continued: Apple has held early talks with CXMT about supplying components with the goal of using them in some devices sold in China, the people said. Apple hopes to win the White House's blessing to do business with the Chinese company. Apple is raising prices on its products globally, blaming the rising cost of memory chips because of high demand from AI companies. Getting access to Chinese supplies could help the iPhone maker ease its crunch. As we've covered, the iPhone maker has been waging a lobbying campaign to secure the White House's blessing in order to ease the financial pressure from soaring memory chip prices. A recent FT report said that Apple approached the Commerce Department earlier this summer about procuring Chinese memory chips.  Apple is not barred from buying chips from China's DDR giant CXMT or from YMTC, another Chinese memory chipmaker that focuses on NAND memory. YMTC has been aggressively growing its market share, has caught up with SanDisk, and is set to become the world's third-largest maker of flash memory as soon as this quarter. However, US rules prevent Apple from ordering customized chips from CXMT but permit it to purchase off-the-shelf components and negotiate prices.  The WSJ noted that other device companies are seeking CXMT supplies: Laptop makers HP and Acer have started using memory chips from CXMT in devices sold outside the U.S. to alleviate some of the memory supply strain, people familiar with the matter said. We expanded on this last week: World's Largest PC Makers Start Using Memory Chips From China's CXMT Any agreement Apple inks with CXMT would risk immediate political resistance in Washington, where policymakers fear U.S. orders could strengthen CXMT. Its chip tech trails that of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, while its production capacity is largely committed for this year. However, CXMT is rapidly gaining ground. Its second-quarter revenue increased more than eightfold from the same quarter one year ago, lifting its global DRAM market share to 7%. CXMT completed a successful IPO last month (read note). Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 11:05

— UN Sounds Alarm As Iran Steps Up Executions To Silence Dissent

 

at 8/9/26 8:30am

UN Sounds Alarm As Iran Steps Up Executions To Silence Dissent Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times, The United Nations human rights chief has expressed alarm over a sharp increase in executions and death sentences in Iran, warning that authorities are using capital punishment to intimidate the population and suppress dissent. “I am alarmed by the rise in executions and death sentences issued in Iran since March, and that capital punishment continues to be used to instill fear among the population and suppress dissent,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in an Aug. 5 statement. source Türk said that since March 19, at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges, including 27 in cases connected to protests earlier this year. More than 100 others face possible execution on similar charges, while executions for drug-related offenses are also continuing at what he described as an “alarming rate.” He raised concerns about alleged torture, forced confessions, closed-door proceedings, and the rapid execution of some defendants following their arrests. “Persistent lack of fair trial and due process guarantees are deeply troubling,” he said. Confessions were allegedly obtained through torture and other forms of ill-treatment, while several executions were reportedly carried out in public. Some defendants were executed only weeks after being arrested, according to Türk. In one case, 12 defendants were sentenced to death following a single closed-door hearing lasting three hours, he said. Separately, an independent United Nations fact-finding mission in July urged Iran to halt the executions of 10 men who participated in protests in Isfahan. It also condemned the July 19 executions of two other men sentenced in the same case. In a statement, the mission called on Iran “to immediately halt all executions, including those of individuals convicted in connection with the protests, and establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to its abolition for all crimes.” Protests and War The increase in executions has unfolded since the United States and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran in late February, following widespread anti-government protests in the country that began amid soaring inflation, economic hardship, and shortages. The clampdown by the Iranian regime left thousands dead and thousands more detained, according to the United Nations, while Iranian authorities imposed an internet blackout that lasted for months. Dr. Marjan Haghighi, an Iranian-Australian health professional and human rights advocate, said the increase appeared intended to discourage further opposition to the ruling regime in Iran in the wake of the January protests. “Following those protests, I believe the authorities shifted from suppressing demonstrations in the streets to using executions to instill fear throughout society,” Haghighi told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Every new execution sends another message to society that dissent may carry the ultimate price,” she said. Haghighi said Iran’s strict censorship makes independent reporting difficult and that many executions are never publicly announced. “The true number of executions is significantly higher than what the world sees,” Haghighi said. Iranian officials have previously rejected international criticism of the country’s human rights record while defending the use of capital punishment as lawful under Iranian law and necessary to protect public security. Iran’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. People wade in the water with cargo ships at anchor in the background, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on June 30, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP The surge in executions is taking place as the U.S.–Iran war is into its sixth month and Washington maintains military and economic pressure on Tehran. President Donald Trump said on Aug. 6 that he believed the conflict would end soon, telling reporters that Iran could not sustain it much longer. Trump said negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz were progressing, although Iranian officials have denied that they are negotiating directly with Washington. The United States has maintained its naval blockade of Iranian ports in order to compel Tehran to come to the table and agree to a negotiated settlement to the conflict. Classicist and military historian Victor Davis Hanson said in recent commentary for The Epoch Times that Tehran appeared to be alternating between talks and attacks to delay a settlement and outlast the Trump administration politically. Hanson opined that the shifting public negotiations obscured the mounting pressure inside Iran from the blockade, frozen assets, damaged infrastructure, and falling export revenue. While critics contend that Washington risks becoming bogged down in a prolonged conflict, Hanson said the underlying conditions suggested that “Iran is running out of time.” Trump has repeatedly said that months of U.S. strikes have decimated Iran’s military and that Tehran’s only remaining leverage is its ability to menace commercial shipping in Hormuz with naval mines and fast boats. The U.S. president has threatened Iran with a vastly more intense and destructive wave of strikes if Tehran does not agree to a deal that would both reopen the strait and ensure that the regime never acquires nuclear weapons. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 10:30

— Turkish FM Affirms Defense Pact With Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Is Same As NATO's Article 5

 

at 8/9/26 7:55am

Turkish FM Affirms Defense Pact With Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Is Same As NATO's Article 5 World leaders have been reacting to the Friday signing of a major defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in the Saudi city of Makkah among their heads of state. It seeks to strengthen joint deterrence and expanding defense cooperation, the Saudi Press Agency said. As we reported, it essentially a NATO-style agreement for the 'Muslim world' - given that it stipulates and formalizes that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has on Saturday affirmed this in very clear terms - in case there were any doubts among pundits - describing that is indeed technically the same as NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense agreement. Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, via Reuters He told state Anadolu news agency that a committee of ministers similar to that within NATO would be formed to undergird the new alliance, with the establishment of general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia. This will be the tripartite pact's version of Brussels, it seems. What's more is that "Egypt could potentially join the pact once certain technical matters are resolved," Fidan added. Some are already seeing in this a kind of 'counter-Abraham accords' but which goes much further, given the military implications. Will Washington ultimately back it and give its blessing?  Al Jazeera has provided the following commentary saying that the US will be okay with it so long as it does not become 'anti-Israeli' in its intent: David Des Roches, an associate professor at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, has described the defence pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan as a good move that will be welcomed by the US. “So long as it doesn’t metastasize into some sort of malign anti-Israel thing, which I think is a very remote possibility, I think it’s positive,” he told Al Jazeera. The alliance would benefit from Turkiye and Pakistan’s robust defence industries, “a more advanced one in the case of Turkey, less advanced, more machine-age in the case of Pakistan”, he said. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, could help finance its two allies. “In both countries, the capacity exceeds their ability to pay for it, and they can’t really maintain national defence industries without a market,” said Des Roches. The analyst added: "So there’s money, there’s markets, and there’s the possibility for advanced training and education. From an American perspective, if our partners have increased capacity, that's burden sharing. And that’s been the aim of successive American administrations since, really, the end of World War II." But in the context of the US war on Iran, Iranian forces have attacked Saudi Arabia multiple times. If this happens again, would Pakistan and Turkey really directly intervene against Iran in an Article 5 fashion?  This scenario is highly doubtful, and Turkey and Iran even share a border which has long been fraught with tensions of its own, especially related to the Kurdish issue. The USA claims to have made the agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey, and considers it as it's own achievement. https://t.co/1Ga9txAwGe — Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) August 8, 2026 One thing is certain: this is definitely a Saudi move away from the Abraham Accords which Trump has long pushed for and not toward it. Turkey and Pakistan want to see a clearer divide between Israel and the Saudis and so are only too happy to present it that way. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 09:55

— Europe Bets Billions On North Africa's Clean Energy Potential

 

at 8/9/26 7:20am

Europe Bets Billions On North Africa's Clean Energy Potential Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com, The EU’s T-MED initiative aims to mobilize billions of euros for renewable energy, hydrogen, clean technology, and electricity networks across the Mediterranean. Morocco and Egypt are emerging as important partners as Europe invests in renewable generation, grid infrastructure, and potential subsea electricity connections. Greater Mediterranean interconnection could give Europe access to abundant renewable resources while attracting investment and clean-energy jobs to North Africa. Europe is deepening its ties with North Africa to develop stronger clean energy connections between the two regions in support of a green transition. The European Union and several European countries have invested in Morocco and Egypt in recent years to support renewable energy development in countries with favourable climate conditions for energy production. Over the coming decade, Europe and North Africa are expected to establish a stronger clean energy trade corridor that will help both regions decrease reliance on fossil fuels.  In June, the European Commission (EC) pledged almost $5.8 billion in renewable energy projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as part of its T-MED initiative, which it hopes will provide Europe’s grid with clean energy. The aim is to deploy solar panels in the Sahara Desert and wind turbines along the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean to produce clean energy in areas with optimal climate conditions. The electricity produced will be delivered to Europe’s grid via high-voltage transmission lines that run under the sea. Much of Europe is already accelerating the expansion of domestic renewable energy capacity. However, investing in a region with more suitable weather conditions could help European countries transition away from fossil fuels even faster, to meet their electrification targets and climate pledges. The EC estimates that the MENA region has approximately 2,300 GW of renewable energy potential, which is over twice the EU’s current installed capacity. Solar and wind power can also be produced at between 30 and 40 per cent less cost than in Europe. The hope is that the EU financing will encourage private funding of up to $29 billion by 2035 to support the growth of the MENA region’s renewable energy industry. This includes the development of solar and wind power, hydrogen, and electricity grids. However, to fully exploit its renewable energy potential, the EC estimates that MENA will require almost $115 billion in investment. The EC expects more governments, development banks, project developers, and private investors to see the value of investing in the region. Meanwhile, it will encourage countries across MENA to simplify permitting procedures, improve grid access, and strengthen regulatory frameworks to encourage investment. The European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, emphasised the need to invest in green energy in the face of ongoing geopolitical challenges that have led to energy shortages and driven fuel prices up. “The EU’s bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over €47 billion in the past 100 days, but not a single molecule of energy in addition,” said Jørgensen. “Our energy security must be based on electrified energy systems that are based on clean energy, modern grids and increased connectivity,” he added. This echoes a broader movement to diversify energy production to improve energy security in several parts of the world. The EC intends for the initiative to lead to the development of at least 15 GW of new renewable-energy capacity by 2035, as well as to support the creation of over 100,000 jobs. It will also deepen the energy relationship between Europe and the MENA region. This is not Europe’s first clean energy investment in North Africa, but it may be the most ambitious. In 2019, the EU and European Investment Bank invested €106.5 million in the development of the Noor Ouarzazate solar power complex, a 580 MW power plant located around 10 km north-east of the city of Ouarzazate. The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by around 760,000 tonnes a year.  In June, the EU announced plans to deepen ties with Egypt by providing a financing package of up to $794 million to upgrade and expand Egypt’s electricity network. The package consists of a $690 million loan from the European Investment Bank’s development arm, EIB Global, and up to $104 million in EC grants. Meanwhile, Germany has launched a $30 billion project known as Sila Atlantik with Morocco to develop what would be the world's ‌longest intercontinental undersea power link. The aim is to connect Morocco and Germany via two high-voltage subsea cables to deliver up to 5 per cent of Germany’s annual electricity demand. However, the project has been delayed due to disagreements over structure and guarantees, Reuters reported in June. If developed, the cables would stretch around 4,800 km and deliver up to 15 GW of solar and wind power from Morocco to Germany. The German firm Sila Atlantik was established to manage the project following the collapse of a similar proposed Morocco-U.K. renewable electricity link, known as Xlinks, in 2025. The European Commission’s T-MED initiative is the latest and most ambitious plan to expand the MENA region’s renewable energy capacity and enhance clean energy trade between the two regions. It is expected to encourage high levels of private investment in the sector and support broader diversification aims to strengthen energy security across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.  Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 09:20

— Fire Erupts At Saudi Aramco's Jazan Refinery As Iran-Backed Houthis Claim Drone Strike

 

at 8/9/26 6:45am

Fire Erupts At Saudi Aramco's Jazan Refinery As Iran-Backed Houthis Claim Drone Strike Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Saudi Aramco's $21 billion Jazan refinery, located on Saudi Arabia's southwestern Red Sea coast, roughly 44 miles from the Yemeni border. The facility is strategically important because it allows Aramco to export refined products through the Red Sea without transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The attack also signals the growing vulnerability of Saudi energy assets in the region, where Houthi forces have repeatedly targeted them in recent weeks. A Bloomberg report cites Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry, which said a fire broke out early Sunday at the 400,000-barrel-a-day Jazan refinery before being extinguished. The outlet continued: No injuries were reported, the ministry said in a post on X, without providing details on the cause of the fire. Authorities "are completing necessary procedures to deal with the incident," it said. Yemen's Houthi rebel group subsequently claimed the attack, the group's military spokesperson said in a post, also on X. Ariel Oseran of i24NEWS English reports:  The Houthis attacked the port of Mocha in western Yemen, causing several explosions and a large pillar of smoke. Earlier, the Houthis said they attacked a Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jazan. The Houthis attacked the port of Mocha in western Yemen, causing several explosions and a large pillar of smoke. Earlier, the Houthis said they attacked a Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jazan. pic.twitter.com/oNm7ZLvami — Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) August 9, 2026 The Jazan incident comes as U.S. and Iran are going back and forth in an effort to ink a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.  U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears to back the Iran-Oman deal to open the critical maritime chokepoint, with President Trump and his officials remaining surprisingly quiet even as it has emerged that the deal outline is wholly favorable to Tehran's conditions. Any agreement to reopen the narrow waterway will require approval from Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, potentially delaying an announcement as officials struggle to reach him, according to Bloomberg. Iran Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says he met with President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss economic conditions and the war. Maybe it’s random, but the first item mentioned in the read out is “the provision of the people's livelihood needs.” The meeting follows significant… — Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) August 9, 2026 "The opening of the Strait is subject to other conditions, including the compensation for the US's violations of the Islamabad Agreement," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday. He was referring to the now-collapsed memorandum of understanding signed in June. Catch up with Saturday's US-Iran news flow: Iran Insists U.S. Must Meet Stringent List Of Demands Before Hormuz Opens Iran's Mehr Releases Video Of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei For 'First Time' - Except It's Old Sunday morning data from Bloomberg show vessel crossings through the Hormuz chokepoint are still at ultra-low levels. Brent crude futures closed Friday at $83.55 a barrel, bouncing off the $80 level. Latest US-Iran Headlines (courtesy of Bloomberg):  Hormuz Deal Status Iran says it is "very close" to a deal with Oman on a temporary maritime transit route through the Strait of Hormuz, but any agreement would not immediately reopen the waterway. Iran's conditions for reopening the strait include compensation for U.S. violations of the Islamabad Agreement, lifting sanctions, and billions of dollars in war damages, according to U.S. officials. Iran is also reportedly demanding that U.S. Navy warships be barred from passing through the Strait of Hormuz as part of any reopening agreement, reflecting the influence of IRGC hardliners. Oman has called for a halt to attacks on ships in the strait, saying they violate sovereignty, while describing negotiations as progressing in a "positive and constructive atmosphere." Iran-US Talks Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that direct talks with the U.S. are currently impossible, citing U.S. violations of the June Memorandum of Understanding. Iran says it is currently only exchanging messages with the U.S. through intermediaries, with some countries trying to reestablish grounds for negotiations. Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory if Iran fully reopened the strait, even floating the idea of walking away without a nuclear deal, but Iran's escalating demands have complicated that objective, according to U.S. officials. Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. is "in the middle of the game" with Iran, using diplomatic, economic, and military tools, and expressed confidence in reaching a good outcome. Iran's Politics Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei met with President Pezeshkian on Sunday for "detailed discussions" covering livelihoods, war conditions, military developments, and economic interactions. Khamenei has not been seen in public since the war began. Mohsen Rezaee, a military adviser to Khamenei and former IRGC commander, has been appointed as Khamenei's representative on Iran's Supreme National Security Council, according to TSNA. Hardline factions within Iran, including IRGC leaders and clerics, are reportedly pushing to keep Iran at war and block peace talks with the U.S. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 08:45

— From "Designed Viruses" To "Digital Telepathy" – AI Panic Kicks Into Overdrive

 

at 8/9/26 6:10am

From "Designed Viruses" To "Digital Telepathy" – AI Panic Kicks Into Overdrive Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org, Two days ago, I wrote an article detailing the sudden rash of “rogue AI agents” allegedly  besetting the tech community, and how that may be used to bring in new regulations, notionally targeting AI, but actually limiting or monitoring how ordinary people use the internet. In the 48 hours since, that blatant fear-mongering has gone WILD. Within a few hours of our original article being published, Meta joined the parade of “rogue AIs”, when Mark Zuckerberg “confirmed” one of their AI agents had left the play area and gone toddling off into the internet to do a little bit of hacking. Then, this morning, Chinese AI company Moonshot reported their Kimi3 model had “escaped containment” [from Wired]: THE AI INDUSTRY is having a rogue agent summer. The latest model to escape onto the open internet during security testing is Kimi K3, a powerful open-weight offering from the Chinese company Moonshot AI. Bloomberg reports that hackers are using AI voice-cloning to steal from hedge funds. The Guardian says AI doctors are spreading medical misinformation. The Independent is screaming: Out-of-control AI systems are going rogue and hacking people. Is it time to panic? And you know what? I think it just might be. After all, rogue AIs hacking the planet are the least of it. That’s small fry already. The New York Times is reporting that AI is now sequencing genomes and designing brand new viruses – biological viruses, not computer viruses – which will be used to treat diseases: This A.I. Just Created Viruses Not Found in Nature – Scientists trained artificial intelligence on libraries of DNA and then asked the model to create recipes for viral genomes. Sixteen of them were viable, yielding new viruses. But experts are warning – “warning” seems to be about 80% of what “experts” do – that this is potentially dangerous: But experts have also warned AI-designed viruses raise “urgent” safety and security concerns. This is painfully unsubtle propaganda, obviously hoping to play on both the Covid-inspired fear of viruses and trendy gain-of-function panic. A crossover episode, the Batman vs Superman of modern panic narratives. In other scary AI-related news, an AI engineer with a twitter blue tick is leaving OpenAI to join Conduit, a tech start-up with the aim of creating an AI that can read people’s thoughts: Naomi Bashkansky left OpenAI and joined Conduit to build models that turn non-invasive neural recordings into text prompts. She says a headband could decode rough intentions into AI coding prompts by 2027, with broader brain-to-AI milestones later. I’m not sure why this is news at all, or what “non-invasive” mind-reading might look like, but since it’s probably not going to happen that doesn’t really matter. The point is – believe EVERYTHING they tell you – and be  afraid! That’s what Geoffrey “Godfather of AI” Hinton thinks, according to the interview published by CNN yesterday: “What’s happening is these things are getting smarter […] I think as they get smarter, we’re going to see more and more complex intentions they have – and more and more ability to escape control […] I don’t believe we’re going to be able to keep control of them in the simple way of just outthinking them so they can’t escape […] I anticipate there will be lots of nasty cyberattacks[.]” Like I said, be afraid. But what’s the endgame here? The answer to that seems to be “regulation”. Regulating AI is suddenly all anyone wants to talk about. Many want a global treaty to govern AI risk. California and New York may already be writing it. That’s from Foreign Policy. The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times all have similar things to say. Bloomberg thinks we should treat AI like the airline industry. Politicians across the spectrum of from the UK’s AI Minister to the Governor of Vermont are clamouring for regulation. The United Nations University tells us: You Can’t Regulate AI Without Fully Understanding It Oh, and in case you were in any doubt about what you were supposed to think, Donald Trump has come out for AI and against regulating it, claiming AI will be “bigger than oil”, and warning that congress wants to “regulate AI out of business”. Trump bad. Trump like AI. AI must be bad. This is the simple moral math that swaths of the US have been conditioned into. AI is scary and needs to be regulated, and if you don’t agree you’re just like Donald Trump. That’s the headline. But what will this “regulation” look like? That’s a good question. One I’m not sure anyone has an all-encompassing answer to quite yet. There’s talk of “kill switches”. The Bank of England suggested them months ago, to prevent AI stock traders crashing the market, and Rep. Ted Lieu wants congress to pass a law requiring them by the end of the year. Two liberal professors, writing for Project Syndicate, are here to tell us “the right way” to regulate AI, using paragraphs like this: Addressing AI’s societal risks requires institutions designed to recognize and respond to emerging threats before they become systemic failures. …and this: These skewed priorities can be traced to the framing of AI development as a geopolitical race. But technological leadership means little if it comes at the expense of workers’ health, social resilience, and people’s ability to lead meaningful lives. A country that develops the world’s most capable AI models while leaving its workforce deskilled and its public discourse polluted by misinformation has not won anything worth winning. Which give vibes over specifics, but I think suggests a very familiar marketing strategy and a vague policy direction. This vagueness is largely intentional at this point. First they want the public to beg them to do something. They can decide what the something is later. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 08:10

— Europe Was Once Bigger Than The US Economy. What Happened?

 

at 8/9/26 5:35am

Europe Was Once Bigger Than The US Economy. What Happened? The United States and the European Union are the two largest Western economies of the 21st century. Over the past two decades, however, their economic trajectories have diverged significantly. This line chart below, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, tracks the gross domestic product (GDP) of the EU and U.S. economies from 2006 to 2026 using the latest figures available from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s World Economic Outlook. Figures for 2026 are forecasts. The Early Rise and Fall of the EU The 15-member European Union was established in 1993 from precursor organizations such as the European Communities. In 2004, 10 new member states joined, followed by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. Aided by the addition of these new member states, along with strong British and German economies, the EU’s total GDP reached $19.3 trillion in 2008. This represented 131% of the U.S. economy that year, which stood at $14.8 trillion. The euro also reached an all-time high in June 2008 at roughly $1.55. The table below shows the size of the EU economy relative to the U.S. economy from 2006 to 2026. Year ?? EU GDP ($T) ?? U.S. GDP ($T) EU % of U.S. GDP 2006 15.27 13.82 110.5 2007 17.83 14.47 123.2 2008 19.27 14.77 130.5 2009 17.21 14.48 118.9 2010 17.09 15.05 113.6 2011 18.49 15.6 118.5 2012 17.40 16.25 107.1 2013 18.20 16.88 107.8 2014 18.86 17.61 107.1 2015 16.61 18.3 90.8 2016 16.70 18.8 88.8 2017 17.57 19.61 89.6 2018 19.00 20.66 92.0 2019 18.69 21.54 86.8 2020 15.49 21.38 72.5 2021 17.51 23.73 73.8 2022 17.04 26.05 65.4 2023 18.67 27.81 67.1 2024 19.50 29.3 66.6 2025 21.23 30.77 69.0 2026 23.03 32.38 71.1 The global financial crisis and Great Recession changed the European Union’s fortunes. The newly expanded bloc faced severe challenges as several member-state governments struggled to service their debts or rein in large structural deficits. These countries included eurozone members Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. Through a combination of multilateral bailouts and austerity measures, the EU weathered the crisis. However, in the years that followed, the 28-member bloc’s aggregate GDP contracted, and the $18.3 trillion U.S. economy surpassed it in 2015. Part of the decline in dollar-denominated GDP also reflected changes in exchange rates as the euro weakened against the U.S. dollar. Brexit and the Years of Decline Further challenges followed. In a June 2016 referendum, British voters narrowly chose to make the United Kingdom the first country to withdraw from the European Union. The Brexit process culminated in the UK’s formal withdrawal in January 2020. Losing the UK dealt another blow to the EU’s aggregate economy. Although the country had never joined the eurozone, it was the EU’s second-largest member economy. Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit helped push the bloc’s GDP down to $15.5 trillion in 2020, roughly where it had stood a decade earlier. As the UK economy has struggled through much of the 2020s, some in London have begun to float the possibility of rejoining the EU. Other European countries, including Albania and Montenegro, remain potential future entrants to the bloc. The Post-Pandemic Divergence Since the pandemic, the U.S. and European Union have followed very different trajectories. Despite inflation and high interest rates, the U.S. economy rebounded strongly from COVID and is forecast to reach $32.4 trillion in 2026. Meanwhile, the EU has faced a combination of rising Chinese industrial competition and an energy crisis stemming from Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. With economic heavyweight Germany facing protracted stagnation, the EU’s GDP is forecast to reach $23 trillion in 2026. That leaves the EU economy at just 71% the size of the U.S. economy, a sharp reversal from its position in 2008. Exchange rates account for part of the shift, but weaker growth and a series of economic shocks have also contributed to the widening gap. To explore what EU membership meant for one major economy, read Poland’s GDP per capita has more than doubled since it joined the European Union in 2004 on Voronoi. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 07:35

— Turkey Restricts Black Sea Traffic As Drone Attacks On Commercial Vessels Spike

 

at 8/9/26 5:00am

Turkey Restricts Black Sea Traffic As Drone Attacks On Commercial Vessels Spike Via The Cradle Turkey has begun restricting commercial ship traffic into the Black Sea amid a surge in Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian vessels, Bloomberg reported Saturday. Turkiye's Directorate General of Coastal Safety has informed several ships heading to Novorossiysk, an important Russian oil and grain export port, that it is not issuing transit permits at this time and requires more time to review passage applications through the Dardanelles. via Reuters The sources told Bloomberg that Turkish authorities had provided no explanation for the move. Some vessels have also reportedly been told that the restriction applies to ships heading to Ukraine. The report comes after a series of drone attacks targeting Turkish commercial vessels operating in the Black Sea and near Russian ports in recent months. On Friday, a Turkish-flagged vessel, the MV Gulluk, was struck by a drone off the Russian port of Novorossiysk. Although the drone hit the ship's living quarters, no crew members were reported injured or killed. On August 3rd, the Ro-Ro cargo vessel Nadezhda was struck by a drone about 20 nautical miles off Novorossiysk while en route from the Russian port to Samsun. Three members of the ship's crew were injured and in serious condition after the attack. The same day, two civilian vessels, the Yasar and the Nadezhda, were attacked after leaving Novorossiysk. In response, Turkiye's Foreign Minister issued a statement saying it was "deeply concerned about the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, which is affecting civilian shipping despite our numerous warnings." "Unless preventive measures are taken, the escalation in the Black Sea will have multifaceted negative repercussions, including for food security," the statement added. Ukraine's targeting of ships in the Black Sea, as well as Russia's attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure and vessels, have threatened grain exports from both countries, pushing wheat prices to a two-year high in July. "Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, and Ukraine is known as Europe's breadbasket, while mutual attacks between the two countries are putting pressure on maritime transport in the region during the harvest season," Anadolu Agency reported. ❗️Turkish sailors film the moment a group of Ukrainian “Shahed-like” kamikaze drones fly past before striking a Russian vessel in the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/yLR7xB6dWf — ?MilitaryNewsUA?? (@front_ukrainian) August 8, 2026 Global food prices already spiked as a result of soaring energy prices following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf earlier this year. Iran closed the strait in response to the US-Israel war of aggression, disrupting oil and natural gas exports from the Gulf countries partnering with the US and Israel in the war. Global fuel prices have also risen in response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. On Saturday, a Ukrainian drone targeted the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's ‌southern Krasnodar region, causing it to catch fire. Ukraine's general staff said the Ukrainian military also hit the Syzran oil ​refinery in the Samara region of Russia overnight, causing a fire there as well. The Ilsky refinery can process over 6 ​million metric tons of oil per year, while the Syzran refinery has a ​processing capacity of 8.5 million tons ​annually. In May, Reuters estimated that disruptions associated with the wars between the US and Iran and between Russia and Ukraine together had knocked out nearly 9 percent of global refining capacity. Tyler Durden Sun, 08/09/2026 - 07:00

— The Trojan Horse Inside Your Head: How Government Propaganda Is Quietly Dismantling Free Thought

 

at 8/8/26 9:20pm

The Trojan Horse Inside Your Head: How Government Propaganda Is Quietly Dismantling Free Thought Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker, Ignore the bureaucrats; listen to the free thinkers... If the Trojan War were being fought today, the Greeks would not need to hide inside of a big, wooden horse and hope to be dragged inside Troy’s city gates.  They’d simply disseminate all kinds of lies on social media and wait for the Trojan people to fight each other.  Such is the power of corrosive ideas: They can destroy a civilization before its defenders understand that they are under attack. Information warfare is the name of the game today.  It exists all around us.  Soundbites attack us from every phone, computer, tablet, and television screen.  Succinct messages ripple through social media platforms until people from opposite sides of the world repeat the same words without knowing why. The most powerful bits of information are the ones that sound unquestionably true.  “Believe all women.”  “Black lives matter.”  “Build back better.”  Their simplicity assists their deception.  We certainly shouldn’t distrust women, right?  Who wants to argue that black lives mean nothing?  Surely nobody wishes to build something worse than it was before.  People hear the soundbites, nod their heads, and repeat those words to their friends and neighbors.  Some place signs in their yards with those three-word messages, as if they were brilliant expositions of fundamental truths. Successful information warfare propagates ideas without triggering in those who receive the message any need for reflection.  Like the Greeks’ wooden horse, the communication is hollow.  It is intended to be just attractive enough that listeners drag the soundbite into their heads but sufficiently harmless in appearance to avoid real scrutiny.  Great propaganda does not conquer by force.  It seduces.  It knocks on the door, smiles, and charms its way into unsuspecting minds.  Then it waits — patiently — until the day arrives when it can do the most damage. Effective propaganda, however, is inherently fragile.  Should anyone take the time to reflect on those three-word messages above, their magic spells are broken.  Once someone asks, “Don’t some women lie?” people remember that accusations matter less than evidentiary proof.  Once a person is shouted down for saying, “All lives matter,” it becomes clear that “diversity” and “equity” have nothing to do with equality and justice.  When anyone stops to ask, “What are we building, and why are we building it?” the World Economic Forum’s plans for a “new world order” stand naked and exposed. In other words, thinking is the enemy of information warfare.  Those who engage in its dark arts see independent thinkers as missile shields that must be eliminated.  Reason and rational debate remain the most effective defenses against propaganda.  People who ask questions build forts for society with their minds.  The entrances to those forts are adorned with this sign: Come let us reason together. Reasoned debate is not scary; on the contrary, it is the path upon which we walk toward enlightenment.  It is why people who demand complianceshould never be trusted.  Anyone who says, “The science is settled,” or, “Trust the experts,” seeks to deprive the listener not only of his capacity to reason but also of his prospect for salvation.  When we forsake the mental gifts that God has given us, we hobble our potential for spiritual growth.  Nobody has ever been redeemed for “just following orders.”  A good life comes from good choices, and good choices come from faithful contemplation.  In this way, attacks on free speech are attacks on our very souls. When propagandists attack our souls from all directions, it is difficult to know who is waging war against us and why.  But there are telltale signs.  When groups and governments attempt to “cancel” individuals for their personal beliefs, they are waging war against individual conscience. Sometimes acts of war are obvious, as when a British communist allegedly bludgeoned well-known conservative Ann Widdecombe to death with a hammer.  Other times, information warfare is more subtle, as when the British government banned Christian and Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen from flying through London’s Heathrow Airport because she boldly defends the Bible’s prohibition against sexual sin, something that both Finland and the United Kingdom have now officially criminalized as “hate speech.”  Along the same lines, the Polish government recently convicted a young, pregnant mother for the “crime” of speaking at a public rally against mass immigration.  Found guilty of “inciting hatred,” Oliwia Olejniczak has received a harsher punishment for expressing her opinion than many illegal immigrants have for committing rape. When governments abuse their criminal justice systems to persecute Christians and mothers concerned about their families’ safety, the signs are clear: Those governments are at war with their own people.  When governments “cancel” citizens for their beliefs, politicians and bureaucrats identify for us which independent thinkers they most fear.  As is written in the Gospel of Matthew (5:10), “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”  When people stand up for moral truths — while bearing the brunt of their governments’ hatred — pay attention.  Those people are building forts for society with their minds.  Seek the shelter of those forts; then expand those forts to protect others.  This is the way to defeat government propaganda. Those who engage in information warfare have a propensity for projecting their crimes onto the innocent.  This is why leftwing groups and governments accuse Christians of “hate speech,” while saying the most hateful things about Christians.  It is also why governments and NGOs insist on categorizing citizens’ dissenting speech as “disinformation” or “misinformation,” when governments and NGOs manufacture false information on an industrial scale. There has never been a time in human history when self-appointed public censors turned out to be the “good guys.”  Communists, fascists, Nazis, and military dictators all believe in censoring public speech and rigging public debate.  The globalists, socialists, collectivists, and other Big Government parasites that have infiltrated and seized most national governments today likewise believe in censorship and the criminalization of dissent.  Information — whether true or false — does not belong to any one group of people.  Oligarchies are not filled with angels; they are filled with sinful human beings. We saw how evil oligarchies can be during the COVID lockdowns.  Government bureaucrats and self-described “experts” told us explicitly, “Now is the time to do what you’re told.”  Western governments committed unforgivable crimes against their citizens in the name of “science.”  Australia rounded up people into “quarantine camps,” and we now know that pretend-President Joe Biden’s CDC was planning to do the same thing in the United States. For eighty years, American schoolchildren have been taught that President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII was an unconscionable violation of Americans’ constitutional rights that could never be permitted to happen again.  Yet it almost did happen again.  The U.S. government was preparing to imprison Americans who refused experimental pharmaceutical injections or expressed unapproved speech.  In January 2022, majorities of Democrats believed that “unvaccinated” Americans should be fined, locked in their homes, sent to quarantine camps, and imprisoned for questioning the effectiveness of the experimental injections.  A third of Democrats believed that the government should remove children from homes with “unvaccinated” parents. How did we get so close to completely destroying the Bill of Rights?  Health bureaucrats and government authorities engaged in an all-out information war against the American people.  They pushed lies into American homes just as the Greeks pushed a wooden horse into Troy.  And their attack on the American people almost worked.  Americans hated each other more than ever before and nearly tore each other to shreds.  COVID was weaponized into the kind of irrational fear that destroys civilizations. In the end, it was not the “experts” or government ministers who prevented Western civilization’s collapse.  It was the people who saw through the propaganda and refused to submit to tyranny.  The next time governments send a Trojan Horse, just light the damn thing on fire. Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 23:20

— Diarrhea-Gate: One Sinaloa Farm, 345 Sick, And Two Restaurant Chains Down Double Digits

 

at 8/8/26 8:45pm

Diarrhea-Gate: One Sinaloa Farm, 345 Sick, And Two Restaurant Chains Down Double Digits The FDA has finished tracing a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Javiana back to its source - a single grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, which entered the U.S. through Coast Citrus Distributors, a California importer that supplies restaurant customers. In this file photo, a shopper checks the firmness of a fresh jalapeño pepper at a produce stand in Jackson, Miss., on Wednesday, July 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) The agency asked Coast Citrus to recall the product. The company says has done so, and is no longer buying from the grower. The CDC has counted 345 confirmed infections in 27 states, including 36 hospitalizations and no deaths. Illnesses began between June 19 and July 20. The real number is likely higher: most people who get salmonella recover at home and are never tested. The epidemiology was unusually clear. Whole-genome sequencing suggested the cases were coming from the same source, and restaurant histories pointed investigators in the same direction. Of 191 people interviewed, 177 - 93 percent - said they had eaten at a Mexican-style restaurant in the month ending July 14. The restaurant chains, for their part, moved before the investigation became a national story. Chipotle changed jalapeño suppliers at affected restaurants on July 20. The company says its traceability system allowed it to identify the grower and lot involved, remove the peppers and replace them with product from other farms. Qdoba took a broader approach and stopped serving jalapeños across the chain on July 28. Regulators now say neither chain represents a current ongoing risk. Investors were less patient. Chipotle shares fell nearly 10% Tuesday and have kept sliding, closing Friday down almost 12% on the week. Sweetgreen, which uses jalapeños in only two of its fifteen dressings and removed them Thursday, fell 8% Friday and is down more than 16% on the week. Of note, Sweetgreen had already seen July sales weaken amid concern over an unrelated cyclospora outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce - an ingredient the chain does not even serve. Once customers start worrying about contaminated produce, distinctions between one ingredient, one supplier and one restaurant brand tend to disappear quickly. Mexican health authorities have opened a separate inquiry, meanwhile. Officials visited a packing facility this week in Nuevo Leon, which is in a different state from the grower identified by U.S. investigators. FILE – The Chipotle logo is displayed at a store, Aug. 13, 2025, in Newton, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 22:45

— Iran's Mehr Releases Video Of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei For 'First Time' - Except It's Old

 

at 8/8/26 8:30pm

Iran's Mehr Releases Video Of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei For 'First Time' - Except It's Old Update(2210ET): Iran's state Mehr has purported to release video of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei for the 'first time' since the start of the war, and since he was wounded in a US-Israeli airstrike in the opening days of the attacks of over five months ago. The state-released footage is titled "First Images of the Leader" - and shows the Ayatollah addressing students, after months of speculation over his status, or whether he is even alive. He has not been seen or heard from directly since the war began, amid conflicting reports and accounts. The video has no date or location given. It appears to be in response to recent Israeli media reports alleging his deteriorating health. However, analysts - as well as social media users in Iran - were quick to identify the footage as old material from his past lectures in Qom. This has in turn resulted in accusations of a cover-up, and that Tehran is in damage control concerning his status. For example, one hawkish US-based think tank researcher and pundit, Jason Brodsky, has commented on the released footage as follows: This footage is old, from before the war. It was first circulating in March. It's telling Iran's regime's Mehr News feels the need to circulate old video of Mojtaba. Iran’s Mehr News released a video claiming to show Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “for the first time,” with no date or location specified. The right side of his face cannot be seen in the footage. pic.twitter.com/JdKWU2Svy6 — Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) August 8, 2026 Foreign press reports, including Russian and Chinese state channels, have been reporting the footage soon on the heels of Iranian state media circulating it... #LATEST Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, appeared in a video recording of a lesson released by Mehr News Agency on August 8. pic.twitter.com/SjebyaGVm8 — CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) August 8, 2026 Proof that it is actually archived footage and not in reality recent 'proof of life' imagery... See here. Iranian media first started circulating it in March.https://t.co/mQae3nqjZp — Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) August 8, 2026 This is the Mehr story indicating the outlet is claiming to publish the images for the "first time" [translation]: https://t.co/j8OfnYg64P — وكالة مهر للأنباء (@mehrnewsarabic) August 8, 2026 *  *  * In another sign of mounting pressure on President Trump to disengage the US armed forces from his failing, five-month war on Iran, America's top general has been carefully working with other Trump advisers to communicate that continued depletion of the Pentagon's arsenal is unlikely to alter Iran's stance, while escalation is likely to backfire, CNN reported on Friday evening, citing "sources familiar with the matter."  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine has been using side conversations with cabinet officials -- including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance -- to ensure they have a shared, clear picture of the military situation before they meet with Trump, CNN's sources say. Summing it up, one said, “Caine is looking for an off-ramp.” In a July congressional hearing, Caine said "airpower has its limits." Nicknamed "Razin Caine," the general said to be reiterating that caution in his behind-the-scenes discussions with likeminded officials who think a major escalation of US attacks on Iran could cause disastrous fallout for the region and US interests.“There really isn’t much else to hit since it is whack-a-mole with drone and missile sites. Bombing power plants would be publicly a lot more significant," one source said. Others said hitting Iranian infrastructure would likely rally the country's citizens around the government -- even more than the war has done already  Last weekend, the US military seemed poised to carry out Trump's threat to unleash “the biggest attack since World War II," but he called it off, at least in part because of profound concerns raised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Iran had promised to wreak havoc up and down the Gulf. “The only ones in favor of the operation were elements of CENTCOM,” said one source, referring to the Pentagon's Central Command, which is responsible for action in the Middle East. The source also pointed out that Israel also wants escalation of the war.    The U.S. Intelligence Community assessed this & consistently briefed it. Unfortunately, it was the Israeli government & their lobbyists who convinced the President that Iran would be as easy as Venezuela. https://t.co/C1Vw7L06OH — Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) August 7, 2026 “I think it is just his way of protecting the military,” a source said about Caine's cautionary campaign. In addition to squandering the lives of at least 18 US service members and wounding more than 600 more, the five-month Trump-Netanyahu war on Iran has severely depleted the US arsenal. Referring to Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), two sources this week told Reuters that "Washington has used virtually all of these weapons," further substantiating earlier media reports and think tank studies that sounded alarms over dwindling munitions. It's not just offensive weapons that are running out: Low air defense missile supplies are also of grave concern, particularly to Gulf states that would face what would likely be a devastating Iranian backlash to a major new US assault on Iran.    Earlier this year, one source criticized Caine for failing to pointedly counsel Trump on the pitfalls of taking on such a well-equipped and geologically-protected adversary. “He’s definitely pulling punches,” the source said then, adding that Caine was much more candid with fellow military officers than with his commander-in-chief. Now, Caine is apparently intensifying his approach. Though warning of the dwindling arsenal, Caine is said to have assured Trump that, if he does order a major escalation, the Pentagon could manage to cause plenty of destruction across Iran. However, it probably wouldn't put a crack in Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, much less substantially affect the nuclear situation that was fraudulently advanced as the casus belli -- for decades:  ?? NEW: CNN compiled a series of clips showing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warning since 1996 that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. pic.twitter.com/HSyWkoj6OB — GBC (@GBC_Press) August 4, 2026 Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 22:30

— The Rarest Asset In A Fourth Turning: The Freedom To Act

 

at 8/8/26 8:10pm

The Rarest Asset In A Fourth Turning: The Freedom To Act Authored by Chris Macintosh via InternationalMan.com, The Fourth Turning does not end with a return to the prior equilibrium. It ends with a new order - better or worse, depending on which forces prevail in the decisive battles of the crisis era. Those battles are being fought now, across domains: monetary (the BRICS challenge to dollar hegemony, the rise of non-dollar settlement, the emergence of digital currencies), geopolitical (the realignment of the Middle East, the unravelling of the post-Cold War security architecture), and epistemic (the collapse of institutional trust, the fragmentation of shared information environments, the re-emergence of heterodox analysis as a credible alternative to official consensus). What distinguishes the people who navigate Fourth Turnings successfully is not superior prediction — the future is genuinely unknowable in its specifics — but superior optionality. They hold assets in multiple forms and jurisdictions. They maintain relationships across multiple networks. They retain the cognitive independence to update their models when evidence demands it. And they have not surrendered the most fundamental asset of all: the capacity to act on their own judgement. Agency is what the propaganda apparatus is designed to extinguish. The entire architecture of manufactured consent — from the captured universities to the curated information feeds to the credit-financed comfort — is designed to produce a population that does not exercise independent judgement because it has been conditioned not to trust its own. The Covid episode was the proof of concept: even people who did not fully believe the narrative could be induced to act as though they did. The restoration of agency is therefore not merely a personal project; it is the foundational political act of the current historical moment. And the regulatory arbitrage it enables — moving capital, business, and oneself to jurisdictions where the apparatus has not yet fully captured the population’s trust — is not tax evasion or political cynicism. It is the restatement, in the language of economic action, of the oldest principle of political economy: that free people, in control of their own affairs, are more productive, more innovative, and ultimately more ungovernable than any administrative apparatus can tolerate. The Argentine farmer, the Czech entrepreneur, the Singapore manufacturer, and the Dubai trader are not united by politics or culture. They are united by a single attribute: they have not forgotten how to say no. The Turnings theory does not predict what the new order will look like. But it does predict that the people who enter the resolution phase with real assets, genuine skills, multiple jurisdictions, and uncompromised mental models will be disproportionately represented in whatever comes next. The compliant will have managed their risk by surrendering to the system. The independent will have managed their risk by retaining the capacity to leave it. History will record, as it always does, that the real crisis was not the one that triggered the Fourth Turning but the one that preceded it: the slow, comfortable, credit-financed surrender of agency that made populations incapable of resisting when resistance mattered most. *  *  * Preserving your agency starts with understanding the forces working to limit it. Our free report reveals the economic, political, and cultural shifts now unfolding, what they could mean for your wealth and personal freedom, and how a contrarian investor is positioning to stay one step ahead. Get your free report. Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 22:10

— Trump-Backed "El Tigre" Takes Power In Colombia As Right-Wing Wave Sweeps Americas

 

at 8/8/26 7:35pm

Trump-Backed "El Tigre" Takes Power In Colombia As Right-Wing Wave Sweeps Americas Colombia entered a new political chapter as Trump-backed President Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn into office Friday, pledging to reverse much of former President Gustavo Petro's nation-killing socialist agenda and to restore law and order, a free market economy, and relations with the United States. ? AWESOME! New Trump-endorsed Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella is GOING OFF after his inauguration into office, he's now preparing to work closely with 47 to decimate the drug traffickers This is a HUGE shift from left-wing former President Petro Espriella is ready… pic.twitter.com/QrdmH0IgLm — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 7, 2026 Known by his nickname, "El Tigre" (the Tiger), De la Espriella's inauguration marks one of the most significant political shifts in Latin America in recent years. After four years of former President Petro's socialist experiment, which ended in economic decline, expanded coca cultivation, and increasingly strained relations with Washington, De la Espriella has already declared war on Marxist terror groups, earning a new security pledge from the US. He was joined at the inauguration by several conservative presidents from across the Americas, including Argentina's Javier Milei, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa, and Chile's José Antonio Kast. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche attended as part of the U.S. delegation. El Presidente Javier Milei junto al Presidente electo de la República de Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella. pic.twitter.com/GPjZcRZEBj — Oficina del Presidente (@OPRArgentina) August 7, 2026 "I have come to close a long chapter of national resignation and, together with the people, embark on the most profound transformation of our destiny," De la Espriella said while speaking at the Pichincha Battalion military base in Cali. He continued, "I send a firm message to the Colombian people: The time has come to restore order, authority, and freedom." Camilo Guzmán, executive director of Libertank, told Fox News that the new president will be focused on rebuilding strategic ties with the US, restoring close cooperation with Israel, and adopting a tougher stance toward the authoritarian governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. "President de la Espriella inherits a house with the roof leaking and the safe empty. The order matters because almost everything he promised requires money he does not have," Guzmán said, adding that Colombia's deteriorating fiscal situation is the new administration's most immediate headwind. "Start with the fiscal picture. It is worse than his own team seems to expect. The 2026 deficit is tracking around 6.5-6.7% of GDP, the financing gap is close to $34 billion and the implicit medium-term adjustment being left on his desk is near five points of GDP. It is also a cash problem, not only an accounting one. Before he governs, he must make payroll," he said.  Shortly after de la Espriella took office on Friday, the US pledged $1 billion in security assistance, subject to congressional approval. The money will be used to "relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism" perpetrated by revolutionary Marxist groups who had already detonated car bombs ahead of yesterday's inauguration. If we've learned anything from America's far-left revolutionaries, it is that the far left uses political violence to project power. El Tigre's rise to power comes amid a once-in-a-generation political shift from left-wing regimes controlling the Americas to a majority of right-wing governments closely aligned with the Trump administration. The State Department has pursued this strategy to secure the West, ensure countries align with the U.S. rather than China or Russia, and promote open and free markets over failed socialist ones. Americas Political Map: Presidential Shift From Left To Right Country-by-country presidential shift tracker "For the first time in 15–20 years, the overwhelming majority of the countries in the Western Hemisphere are now led by pro-American leaders and governments since @POTUS was elected president," Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last week with President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 21:35

— WNBA To Hold 'Listening Sessions' After Second Former NBA Star Says He's A Woman, Declares For Draft

 

at 8/8/26 7:00pm

WNBA To Hold 'Listening Sessions' After Second Former NBA Star Says He's A Woman, Declares For Draft Update (1800ET): WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to teams that addresses ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in women's basketball. "I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women's basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention," Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday afternoon and obtained by The Associated Press and ESPN. "I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the media with thoughtfulness and professionalism." The memo said the topic will be discussed further by a task force of team presidents and general managers at a previously scheduled meeting next week. The league's collective bargaining agreement states that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA," but it does not include any more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth.  "We recognize that this is a complex and nuanced topic, and we will continue to have important conversations with all of you and the Players Association in the weeks and months ahead," Engelbert said in the memo. "We also plan to convene additional discussions and offer listening sessions for any team leaders who would like to participate. Your perspectives and feedback are invaluable, and I appreciate those who have already reached out to share their thoughts." The Women's National Basketball Players Association released a statement on social media Friday that emphasized diversity and inclusion while saying the group "will not be used as political pawns." "We embrace justice equity, diversity, and inclusion," the players' union said. Inclusion? Perhaps the WNBA will finally be the first group to actually define "what is a woman?" *  *  * As Robert Spencer reported earlier for PJMedia.com, every person who is tired of the left forcing its delusions and fantasies on the rest of us, and shaming, deplatforming, and silencing us if we refuse to go along, ought to be applauding Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom for standing up to the madness, and showing the world just how absurd it really is. White and Freedom have declared that they’re women, at least for the purposes of professional basketball, and so they’re declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft. This is hilarious, but it’s no joke. It’s an unanswerable response to the left’s fashionable gender delusions, which have recently become a source of controversy within the WNBA, which ought to be called the WWNBA, the Woke Women’s National Basketball Association. It all started when WNBA star Sophie Cunningham stated that she was not in favor of men pretending to be women playing women’s sports. This sparked the usual spittle-flecked fury from the left. The WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, among others, came out in favor of delusional men competing against women.  The WNBA players’ union issued a weaselly statement denouncing “Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people.” Nobody had engaged in any of that, but that’s how leftists always characterize disagreement with the views they want everyone to hold. Meanwhile, there has been talk of a WNBA team signing French basketball player Julie Tétart, who is a dude. And so if Julie Tétart can do it, why can’t Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom? They are just as female as Tétart is. Fox News reported Friday that White said: "I'm transgender. I'm a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I'll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well," that is, in addition to Enes Kanter Freedom. White added a correct assessment of how well a male professional would do in the WNBA: "I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy. I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do... I think it’s only fair." White noted that the WNBA, for all its declarations of how much it rejects “hatred” of men who claim to be women, hasn’t said explicitly that men could play in the WNBA. Maybe WNBA top dogs hope that the whole thing will just go away, but it won’t. "I think the WNBA could come out,” White said, “and make a definitive statement about guys with a pair of balls playing in the Women’s Association." Asked if he would declare for the WNBA draft unless the league said that men could not play in the league, White responded: "Oh, no, I’m declaring. And I don’t want to be discriminated against. I want fair treatment. I’m a young, black, hopefully United States Senator that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete." White is on the ballot for the senate in Minnesota in the Republican primary; the election is coming up next Tuesday. What if the WNBA calls White’s bluff and no team opts to sign him? "I have to file a discrimination lawsuit, right?,” White said. “I mean, that's, that's ridiculous. We're gonna have to have a huge legal battle about discrimination if I can't play." White says he would like to play for Cheryl Reeve: "It’s got to be the Minnesota Lynx, and I hear the coach loves a good transgender, so we’ll all be in perfect harmony.” White expressed confidence that he would be drafted: “How you gonna pass up on a 6-foot-8, 270-pound point forward? That’s ridiculous. I’m 260 pounds, 265 pounds, 6-foot-8, can palm a basketball — can palm a men’s basketball probably as easily as any player in history. I think I had the third-biggest hands in the modern NBA Draft Combine. So, yeah, I’m sure the women’s basketball is going to fare even easier to palm, which is a huge advantage. They’re going to have nightmares, and they should. I really feel like I’m going to be dominant." He’s right. If a WNBA team signs Julie Tétart or any other delusional man, the Minnesota Lynx or any other WNBA team would be foolish to pass on Royce White. And then other teams will follow suit, until there are no women players left at all, and the WNBA is entirely filled with men and becomes a junior NBA. That will be true gender justice, won’t it, Ms. Reeve? Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 21:00

— 'Busted': Female Bicyclists 'Bulk Up'

 

at 8/8/26 5:50pm

'Busted': Female Bicyclists 'Bulk Up' Authored by Mike McDaniel via AmericanThinker.com, I’ve been a bicyclist all my life, but because I came to serious road racing late in life, I never had the opportunity to be competitive. Oh, I had a few good bikes and wore the required attire, but I was never going to make the medal stand. I did ride with enough serious riders to understand their compulsions. Among them was doing whatever was necessary to shave every gram of weight possible off their trusty steeds and to make them, and themselves, more aerodynamic. Shaving the legs was mandatory, but I never participated in that ritual. The seconds that might save weren’t going to make any difference for me, nor would drilling holes in this or that component. If you know the jargon, those were the days when shifters were mounted on downtubes, and carbon fiber was in its infancy. It consisted of round frame tubes glued into metal fittings. Ten-gear cassettes and single chainrings were the hot setup. That dates me, doesn’t it? Much has changed since those years. Frames can now be entirely made of carbon fiber and tuned for specific kinds of races. Everything is lighter and stronger, and computer technology has made it possible to fine-tune bike and rider to an amazing degree—particularly female riders’ breasts. Breasts?! Breasts: Something strange is happening at the Tour de France Femmes this year. Several women’s WorldTeams have come forward claiming that some riders are padding their bras during time trials to gain an aerodynamic edge. The Dutch website Wielerflits broke the story after hearing from multiple teams. The complaint is that certain cyclists are using extra padding to make their chests appear larger. In the low, aggressive position of a time trial, a rounder chest can act like a “fairing,” smoothing the air and reducing drag. Oh, come on. This has to be The Babylon Bee, right? Nope. It, and the breasts, are the real thing: Graphic: X Post … aerodynamics expert Bert Blocken has studied the idea. (Uh-huh. I’m sure he did).  Hey!  You don’t want to be a science denier, do you? His research found that a proper chest fairing can cut air resistance by as much as 3.6 percent. In a race that often comes down to seconds, that kind of gain is not nothing. Over 20 or 30 kilometers, it could easily decide a stage. That’s exactly why riders strain to do whatever they can to get that kind of advantage. Races are often won by fractions of a second, and a 3.6% aero advantage translates to double-digit seconds over longer races. That’s a substantial win, particularly in a time trial. Due to a law enforcement neck injury, my bike racing days are over. I can’t get on the drops (the lower portion of road bike handlebars)—it’s a pain in the neck--so I ride recumbents. You never see them in sanctioned bike races because while they’re heavier than the lightest road bikes, they also have a 10-15% aerodynamic advantage, so they’re banned. The timing of the accusations is pretty interesting. They surfaced just as the race produced one of its most memorable moments — the longest solo breakaway victory in the history of the Tour de France Femmes on Stage 3. Officials have been quick to note there is no evidence a padded bra had anything to do with that result. In bike racing, the tiniest technical detail and rule is usually rigorously observed. Obviously, they’re taking breasts seriously, which is always wise. Still, the story has put the entire field on notice. Extra clothing inspections are now expected ahead of the next time trial. Bra inspections. Unbelievable. Graphic: X Post It should be pretty easy to spot padding. Female riders tend to be among the leanest female athletes in the world with very low body fat percentages, which means less - ahem - prominent breasts. I also suspect the line to volunteer for that duty will be long indeed. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it for the purity of sport and the sanctity of science. Being male and having decades of experience with observing and judging breasts, I’m uniquely qualified. Where do I apply? Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 19:50

— Hunter Biden Says Father's Cancer Has Spread Further: "Very Painful And Very Debilitating"

 

at 8/8/26 5:15pm

Hunter Biden Says Father's Cancer Has Spread Further: "Very Painful And Very Debilitating" Former President Joe Biden's prostate cancer has progressed and is causing him significant pain, his son Hunter said in a BBC interview broadcast Friday night. Former President Joe Biden's office announced in May 2025 that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images file "The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further," Hunter Biden told BBC Newsnight. "It's very painful. It's very debilitating in many respects." He grew emotional discussing his father's condition. "It's really, really hard, and it's really sad to watch," he said. "I wish he would complain more, because it's not good." Biden, 83, disclosed the diagnosis in May 2025, four months after leaving the White House. His personal office said at the time that the cancer carried a Gleason score of 9 and had already metastasized to the bone - an aggressive presentation - but added that it appeared hormone-sensitive, "which allows for effective management." He completed a course of radiation and hormone therapy that September. BREAKING: ??Hunter Biden announced that his dad, the former President of the US, that Joe Biden’s health is very poor: “The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more because it’s not good. The cancer has spread, is… pic.twitter.com/eg5iXFYvS7 — Megatron (@Megatron_ron) August 8, 2026 Hunter's account cuts against that framing. The disease has now moved beyond bone, and the pain and debilitation he describes mark a clear decline from anything the family has said publicly since. Jill Biden told NBC News in June that her husband would live with cancer for the rest of his life. Hunter insisted his father remains engaged. "He's still out there. He's still doing his thing," he said. "He so believes in this country." He described the former president as the center of the family, and as "the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather." Biden was the oldest man ever to serve as president, and his age was a running concern across his four years in office. He and his White House advisers have faced sustained criticism over what they knew and disclosed about his condition - criticism that intensified after his debate performance against Donald Trump in June 2024 forced him out of the race weeks later. Hunter said he watched that debate from California and was "shocked." "I knew something was wrong," he said. In the same interview, he addressed the pardon his father issued in the final weeks of the presidency. He called it "not fair" and acknowledged it was not good for the country, while saying he remains grateful for it. "I am the most privileged person, as it relates to that, that there could possibly be," he said. "I was one of one, and I'm eternally grateful for it." Photo: AP/Rod Lamkey Jr.  Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 19:15

— Jeftovic: The "Bitcoin Only" Era Is Over...

 

at 8/8/26 4:40pm

Jeftovic: The "Bitcoin Only" Era Is Over... Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower .com, (From The Sovereign Capitalist Letter #65. I was traveling at the time of the Coinkite vulnerability, surfacing a recurring theme around how to safely balance cold storage and emergency access when on the road). Just when I thought the sentiment couldn’t get any worse, on July 29-30 reports began to emerge of “certain” Coldcards (which were supposed to be the industry standard of self-custody cold wallets), being drained of their funds. The reports are true, and this has enormous implications, not just for Coinkite, the Canadian company who manufactures the Coldcard, but for the entire worldview of self-custody and perhaps even for Bitcoin itself. “Not your keys = not your coins” has been the mantra of Bitcoin since the Genesis Block. Self-custody was The Way. Anything else was for “shitcoiners”, “suitcoiners” and general retards. It is impossible to overstate how strongly the Bitcoin in-club feels about this. If you don’t self-custody – and until this happened, on a Coldcard by Coinkite – then you were not really a “true” Bitcoiner, you were just LARPing as one. A spectator in the land of the pureblood anarcho-capitalist cyberpunks. (Admission: my BTC wasn’t on a Coldcard – but I had recently bought new one that I was planning to migrate to after the BIP-110 and eCash forks). When Utopia arrives… only the self-custody maxis would be admitted – all else would be chattel and serfs under various permutations of slavecoins, CBDCs and (the worst of all) paper Bitcoin. It all sounds very eschatological and in the earlier days of my journey, I would openly admit “Bitcoin is my religion” and only be half-kidding about it. While this bear market has been a “mild winter” in terms of price action (only about ~ 50% off the all-time high), this has been one of the more self-destructive bear cycles in terms of Bitcoin culture and the movement in general. None of it helped by the fact that the Coldcard flaw turned out to be real. People who had done everything right, took their BTC off of the exchange, put it into an air-gapped Coldcard powered by a 9V-battery and thought they were safe, found their life-savings irrevocably drained away in an instant… Via r/bitcoinOver the years I’ve recommended Coldcard to my readers a few times. We were traveling when the news broke but as soon as I corroborated the vulnerability, I put out an emergency bulletin to the mailing list. At first it appeared as though the flaw was limited to older Mk2 and Mk3 models, but over the next couple of days Mk4 and Q1 series were also being drained – it just takes more computing power, and thus time, to crack the entropy on the later models. What Happened – The Coldcard Firmware Flaw As everyone here knows, a Bitcoin wallet address is a very long cryptographic private key that can be transmitted or stored in a human readable form via a 12- or 24-word seed phrase, consisting of words pulled from a word list (BIP-39) of possible values. The words themselves are actually unimportant – they’re just there for humans to be able to read the values. The discrete value they comprise is what matters. And because a given wallet address is secured by a private key derived from a seed-phrase, those words must be in order. That makes the universe of possible values enormous: 12 words gives 2¹²⁸ possible valid phrases 24 words gives 2²⁵⁶ possible valid phrases A 12-word seed space is a vastly larger number than every grain of sand on Earth or every star we can see in the observable universe. A 24-word seed space is larger than the number of atoms in the entire galaxy, and approaches (but is generally a bit smaller than) the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe. But that’s only if those words are generated from a truly random seed (entropy source). Take an extreme example: simply picking the first 12 or 24 words from the BIP-39 word list isn’t random, and a wallet protected by such a seed phrase would be cracked in short order by a brute force computer. The Coldcard ships with an onboard RNG (Random Number Generator) to generate your seed phrase, however their own documentation states that to achieve maximum entropy (randomness), you should also add some “external entropy” such as dice rolls – real, actual physical dice, rolled, 50 or 100 times – combined with the onboard RNG for maximal security. Many people did not roll the dice, assuming that the onboard RNG would provide more than enough entropy for a secure seed phrase (remember those numbers above). The problem was in Coldcard’s firmware itself, where the RNG generator turned out to be bypassed – resulting in extremely weak entropy – and thus, weak seed phrases. This bug has been sitting there since November 2021 (the Coldcard firmware is open source/viewable), Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge. The follow-up tweet lays out what went wrong in the Mk4 and Q series: “Mk4, Q, and Mk5 attempt to compensate at boot with secure-element input, but the reseed truncates it to 32 bits, sharply limiting the secret entropy it contributes – far below what wallets should have.” It later came out that it looks like a developer simply disabled the RNG to workaround some compiler errors: A new technical analysis by Core-Lightning dev ddustin suggests the 2021 COLDCARD vulnerability may have started while a developer was trying to connect three layers of the firmware: the wallet’s Python code, MicroPython’s C code, and the STM32 hardware random number generator. The custom code appears to have conflicted with MicroPython’s existing implementation, likely triggering a compiler error. The evidence suggests the developer then disabled the hardware RNG by setting MICROPY_HW_ENABLE_RNG to 0, allowing the firmware to compile. That change had an unintended consequence. When users created new wallets, the firmware no longer used the hardware random number generator. Instead, it fell back to MicroPython’s much weaker Yasmarang software random number generator. There are people out there implying that any wallets drained are somehow on the Coldcard owners, because they didn’t add enough external entropy (read: they didn’t do enough dice rolls, or any dice rolls). This is a fucking retarded take. It actually makes my blood boil. No other Bitcoin hardware wallet requires the user to provide external entropy as a condition of the fucking thing working. People buy these wallets because they purport to be an ultra-secure, self-contained Swiss-Bank-in-your-pocket solution for escaping the fiat treadmill and putting your life savings beyond the reach of The State. Full stop. There is no asterisk beside those claims that “you have to jiggle your body and roll a bunch of dice dozens of times while waving a dead chicken over your head to add entropy or it won’t work”. Except, on a Coldcard go on... say it pic.twitter.com/JZS22uznfF — Mark E. Jeftovic (@jeftovic) August 2, 2026 Actions to take: If you have a Coldcard, regardless of how you set it up – I would move all of my funds out of it. What Does this mean for Self-Custody and for Bitcoin? Indeed. That is the question. I have been thinking long and hard about this, not to mention conducting a deep dive into the entropy generation on other wallets. The gist is this: Every other wallet I came across uses well-known methods for generating entropy that come off of the device itself (such as the the o/s level Cryptographically Secure Pseudorandom Number Generator – CSPRNG) and many of them combine that with several other sources of entropy – any given computing environment offers a few of those (clock speed jitter, etc), and in some cases, dedicated chips just for entropy generation. But this still had me rattled: why bother worrying about a quantum attack on SHA-256 in 5 or 50 years, when you can just crack the entropy using Fable or Opus 5.6-sol today? Fortunately, it turns out that is not the case. The Coldcard vulnerability was entirely exploitable, and discoverable, because of a series of bad decisions and programming bugs. It was not a case that entropy had been cracked, it was that insufficient entropy was generated in the first place. This X post from another wallet provider lays out the reasons why, years ago, Coinkite switched their open-source licensing scheme as well as their own code in the Coldcard firmware – and how by doing so they set the stage for the disaster unfolding in front of our eyes today. Also noting that @nvk (Coinkite’s CEO) deleted the tweets referenced above and has been dutifully scrubbing his timeline since all this broke out. Absolutely abysmal leadership. All this to say – (because it bears repeating): the issue is not that AI could crack the entropy used to generate seed phrases. That would be game-over for Bitcoin. What happened instead was that AI was used (at least once it became known that there was an exploit to be found) to uncover a flaw in entropy generation. Very different. That means the industry-standard wallets (Trezor, Bitkey, and software ones like Sparrow or Electrum) are fine – and I still feel OK typing that – in fact more so, after the rabbit hole I’ve been down these last 48 hours. But there are some practical takeaways now, and some possibly unpleasant ramifications, at least for me, and I’ll lay them out frankly here, in no particular order: Multi-sig self-custody is now the bare minimum. Wallets that require multiple signatures to spend – if you are handling it all yourself, you can still do solo multi-sig, where you require two-of-three signatures to originate an outbound transaction.What I will probably end up doing is prepping some docs or tutorials on getting that set up. Institutional custody is a serious option, which should be considered. But it comes with trade-offs, one of which is that it’s very difficult to create a multi-generational custodial entity in a nascent space. You almost by definition need to fuse some venerable old tradfi institutions with cypherpunks.The reality is the institutions best equipped or positioned to do this, are not “Bitcoin-only”, which seems to matter to the hardcore maxis.But there’s another problem with that: Most Bitcoin-only businesses are on their way to bankruptcy. If not this bear cycle, then the next one.This is because in the overall scheme of things, not enough people actually give a shit about Bitcoin to make a “Bitcoin-only” business viable over the long haul. This includes as many as 90% of the people (total guesstimate) who are actually allocated to Bitcoin.Most of them couldn’t care less about self-custody, retiring their bloodline, “everything divided by 21 million”, escaping the state, or any of the long string of maximalist purity tests. They want a double-digit CAGR, and to catch the next bull market updraft. That’s it. That’s the majority of people invested into Bitcoin. Reality check. ETFs are fine. This needs to be said. Again, there are trade-offs (surprise!):You’ll miss out on the proceeds of any forks (the ETF sponsor will pocket those) and you’re very much inside the financial system. But they are a way to capture the upside of Bitcoin, hold for the long term, with total liquidity. The right exchanges are also fine. Another blasphemy but it’s true. One thing I’ve been saying for years is that most people don’t want the hassles associated with self-custody. It’s a high bar and what most people really want is “PayPal for crypto”. And notice I didn’t say “Bitcoin”, I said “crypto” – another no-no word for “True Bitcoiners”, but the reality is that the mass adoption underway is of crypto. Bitcoin just happens to be a subset of that.I can envision setups where of the total allocation in a portfolio to Bitcoin, the majority is held via ETFs, while self-custody BTC is akin to our “Bug-out bag” component, along with a lightning wallet loaded up with some “walking around money”. Bitcoin is not the apex asset.  I have been wrong about this. It’s still a category-of-one in the digital asset space, it’s still digital sound money and a store of value, but it’s just another asset class across the possible choices one can allocate into.The maxi proposition that allocating to anything other than Bitcoin in one’s investments or savings is “retarded” is itself retarded. I remember seeing a tweet some time ago that just broke my heart, where some pleb took his daughter to Burger King for her fifth or sixth birthday and was thrilled that she understood why instead of buying her a birthday present he bought some Bitcoin.Horrible parenting. Buy your five-year-old a birthday present. Pay them for chores in Bitcoin. Don’t take them to Burger King, ever. Grow the fuck up. You’re supposed to be the adult here. The apex asset is business ownership. We can talk more about this, and we will. Being 100% invested in Bitcoin or having all your life savings in Bitcoin is a mistake. Another mistake of mine, in the sense where I proudly declared that easyDNS holds 100% of its retained earnings in BTC. Others hold the sum total of their life savings in Bitcoin.This is a big mistake – which anybody who just had their life savings drained in under 20 seconds in this episode understands all too viscerally. Speaking for myself, I will be adjusting my allocation. Probably gradually, because I do think we’re “at bottom” in this cycle, so as we climb out of this bear market, I will be diversifying – likely more aggressively into cashflow-producing businesses. I’ll do this through a combination of collateralization in a (hopefully) up-trending market, and sales under the right circumstances. There are a couple of special situations I’m working on where it feels like the most sensible move is to create an investment partnership – so I will be cashing out some chips to seed that fund. I’m glad I still have gold and numerous investments outside of the Bitcoin and even crypto space. I’m also looking at more real estate. The market is in the toilet now so it’s a good time to buy – and this actually brings us to an important point: The Bitcoin maxi axiom that it’s always a good time to buy, never a good time to sell, and that Bitcoin is the only investable asset, forsaking all others, has to be abandoned by anybody who is serious about building wealth. I don’t care about passing the Bitcoin purity tests. Maybe I did in the past, which was also a mistake. Remember when Luke Gromen sold Bitcoin right near the top of the cycle and everybody in the Bitcoin space called him an idiot? Who are the idiots now? I’ll give you one guess. I’m not saying we should have sold when Luke Gromen sold, I’m observing that a professional investor applied his framework and made a determination on when he should sell – and that gave him optionality that none of us “pureblood Bitcoiners” have, as long as we’re trapped in this “never sell” / Bitcoin-only mentality. Bitcoin maximalism is over. Bitcoin "culture" is over. Bitcoin influencers are over. Every popular hardcore Bitcoin figure has disgraced themself in some way. Bitcoin will remain, beneficially stripped of the cult around it. — nic carter (@nic_carter) August 2, 2026 If I could sum up the above list in one pithy tweet, it would be the opening image of this month’s edition, by way of Nic Carter, who also found himself excommunicated from The Bitcoin Cathedral for indulging in shitcoinery. Sign up for the Bombthrower mailing list here and get an executive summary of my new book: The Blueprint Survive & Thrive In An Overclocked Timeline. Sovereign Capitalist members get early access to the full book here. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge. Tyler Durden Sat, 08/08/2026 - 18:40

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