Friday, August 21, 2026
Friday Executive News Summary
Economic war pressures Iran’s trading partners, cartels’ smuggling revenue has dropped significantly, Arday whistleblower suspended, more heresy from Talarico, and more.
Economic war pressures Iran’s trading partners
After the 60-day memorandum of understanding with Iran concluded without any successful peace agreement being made, President Donald Trump threatened an “economic D-day,” which he described as the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!” Few specific details of these new sanctions have been released, but they warn any nation against trading with Iran. China has done the most trade, including buying upwards of 90% of Iran’s oil exports. Cutting off trade with Iran would have minimal negative economic impact on China; however, Beijing’s support for the Islamic regime is more about geopolitical positioning. Meanwhile, other nations with significant trade ties to Iran include India, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. For its part, the UAE has joined the U.S. in sanctioning trade with Iran, but the other nations may be harder to get on board.
American woman joins ISIS, plans bomb attack
“Material support is 20 years in prison; I already Googled it,” said 35-year-old Jessica Bowie upon being arrested. “I know I’m going to jail.” Around five years ago, Bowie converted to Islam and began posting anti-American messages on social media, including her support for the 9/11 attacks. FBI field agents in Albany, New York, identified her as a threat and initiated a sting operation. Bowie confessed to an FBI informant that she had been seriously contemplating a bomb attack on the New York State House, a couple of miles from her home. From mid-July, informants pretending to be sympathizers worked with Bowie, providing her with an inert explosive and receiving updates on her efforts to scout out the building. On Wednesday, Bowie was arrested outside of a McDonald’s.
Pentagon threatens university funding due to ties to China, Russia, and Iran
The Pentagon has asked the leadership of 30 universities to review their academic collaborations with China, Russia, and Iran. The DOD threatened to cut federal funding to said schools if they do not comply. Many of these schools are highly elite, including Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins. This is a necessary step to eliminate risk and maintain security in institutions most open to foreign influence. Many of these same universities are part of large government research projects. Our universities comprise some of the most important lines between American and foreign influence, and those influences must remain beneficial.
Dr. Heidi Overton tapped to lead FDA
The previous head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, resigned in May. President Trump announced Dr. Heidi Overton as his replacement. Overton has medical experience and already served in the Trump administration during Trump’s second term, but to be confirmed, she must gain approval from a critical, narrowly Republican-led Senate. Overton has supported Trump’s health priorities and vaccine claims, has spoken against abortion pills, and will likely remove the FDA rules that make those pills easily accessible. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media that Overton has “exceptional judgment, professionalism, discipline and an unwavering commitment to the American people.”
AR-15s and abortion
New Jersey Democrat Governor Mikie Sherrill signed another law protecting abortion. This one prevents extradition of those responsible for killing unborn babies. However, signing it was clearly not enough. “In the past four years,” she lamented, “13 states … have enacted total abortion bans. It’s easier to get an AR-15 in the United States than it is to get an abortion.” That statement is untrue — far more Americans live in states where they are prohibited from buying so-called “assault weapons” than live in states where they can’t abort their babies. Worse, Sherrill alludes to the delusion that rifles kill more people than abortions do. The real numbers: In 2024, rifles of any type were used to kill 401 people. That same year, abortion claimed the lives of more than one million babies.
Thanks to Trump’s border policies, cartels’ smuggling revenue has dropped significantly
Ever since President Trump successfully closed the border, the cartels’ smuggling business has been starving. FinCEN, formally known as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, tracks bank reports of suspicious transactions tied to human trafficking. During the Biden administration, an average of 7,000 reports were flagged each quarter, but in the last half of 2025, fewer than 2,000 were flagged per quarter. Immigrants often pay up to $20,000 to be smuggled into the U.S., with the cartels taking a significant cut. FinCEN scrutinizes bank transactions that are “outside of customers’ usual patterns, where money was sent to locations along common migrant routes, or where there weren’t verifiable connections between the sender and receiver,” reported The Washington Times. Sometimes the customer even admits to the bank that they are paying to smuggle a friend or relative. Border security and the disruption of transnational criminal organizations have been among the biggest successes of the Trump administration.
Atlanta Dem mayor blasts DNC for rejecting the city for presidential convention
The Democratic National Committee removed Atlanta from the shortlist of hosts for its next presidential convention. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens accused the DNC of abandoning black voters and Southerners, while also reminding the DNC that Atlanta was recently ranked the best city to host the World Cup. “For the DNC to not even include Atlanta in the shortlist means that the DNC does not consider Atlanta or Georgia relevant to the past, present, or future of the Democratic Party,” he wrote. Dickens felt that the party’s decision insulted the South. However, the DNC recently rearranged its presidential nomination calendar to prioritize racial diversity, with South Caroline first in the lineup.
Arday whistleblower suspended
The race hustlers continue stoking controversy over Jason Arday’s life and death. Instead of suspending Arday for the extensive plagiarism and fabrications that enabled him to assume his professorship at Cambridge University, Nathan Cofnas, the academic who exposed Arday’s lies, has been suspended. Ghent University placed Cofnas under investigation “for discriminating against Arday.” Cofnas explained in an op-ed that he has become the scapegoat, and that the real culprit is DEI within the university system. He revealed that Cambridge had been aware of Arday’s plagiarism since 2023, and that administrators were even “tipped off” by another academic who told them of his “propensity for fabulations.” Instead of letting him down gently, the university covered it up. Cofnas has long rejected DEI and promoted “race realism” and treating people as individuals, which makes him an easy target for the media and others to accuse him of “racism.”
More heresy from Talarico
Texas Senate Democrat candidate James Talarico identifies as a “Presbyterian Christian.” Yet his religious views say otherwise. Recently, a sermon he preached in 2023 came to light. In the sermon, which he titled “God Is Not Christian: Confronting Christian Nationalism,” Talarico rejected the exclusivity claim that Jesus is the only way to God, as recorded in the Gospel of John. “There are so many pathways to the sacred,” he asserted, later adding, “God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb. God is not a being. God is being self. God is love, and that’s why Jesus is against anything that gets in the way of that love between neighbors, including religion.” Apparently, Talarico rejects the fundamental Christian doctrine that holds the Bible to be the inspired word of God.
USS Abraham Lincoln heads home
Following CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper’s visit and promise to send the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier home following 250 days at sea, the Lincoln is officially heading home. On Wednesday, the USS George Washington arrived in the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln, which is expected to reach San Diego in a few weeks. Reports of deteriorating conditions are “completely misrepresented,” according to War Secretary Pete Hegseth; however, the ship was scheduled to end its deployment in May. The Lincoln left port on November 21 and has not visited a port since December — an unusual circumstance that has exacerbated an already long nine-month deployment.
The wacky — and dangerous — NYC bills that could soon be law: Sick leave for pets, abolished gang database and an elephant ban
What a bunch of silly billies!
Progressive Caucus City Council members are backing a dozen out-of-left-field bills, ranging from the potentially dangerous to the downright wacky, a Post analysis found.
Some of those bills push for standard-issue progressive pipe dreams, such as abolishing the NYPD’s gang database or setting a $30 minimum wage.
But others count as Grade A wack-a-doodle doozies — from banning elephants to letting pet owners take sick leave if their dogs are ill — by The Post’s reckoning.
“They want the world to know this is what they believe in and this is what they fight for,” said Zilvinas Silenas, president of the Empire Center, an independent think tank.
“They’re putting up a flag to say, ‘Hey, I’m the council member who’s all in on organic eggs” or, ‘I’m the council member who really cares about elephants in New York.'”
Democrats hold a supermajority on the Council, with a significant bloc of progressives – but the bills would need to first advance beyond various committees before they go up for a vote by the full lawmaking body.
Here’s what lefty Council members want New Yorkers to know where they stand.
Sick leave for pets
Fido having a ruff day?
New Yorkers won’t have to choose between going to work or taking care of a sick pet if a bill sponsored by Councilman Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan) is passed.
City law currently doesn’t allow workers to use accrued sick time to care for a sick pet or service animal — a situation that forces uncertainty if they need to take time off for veterinary care.
“This bill would clarify that caring for a sick animal is a legitimate use of already earned sick leave and does not create any additional leave entitlement,” a memo in support of the bill states.
The bill would tweak the city’s sick leave law, allowing workers to take time to care for some — but not all — types of animals.
Animals “kept primarily for companionship” — as in, pets and service animals — would fall under the tweaked law.
Farm animals like barn cows, however, would have to moooove aside.
Abreu isn’t part of the Progressive Caucus, but the bill has backing of lefties such as Councilwoman Tiffany L. Cabán (D-Queens). He told The Post the legislation doesn’t expand the number of sick days available, it only gives workers more freedom in how they use them.
Free-range eggs only
What does this bill have to do with the price of eggs?
Nothing, but it has a lot to say about what type of eggs New York City municipal agencies can buy.
A bill by Councilman Harvey Epstein (D-Manhattan) would prohibit city government from buying eggs that aren’t organic or free-range.
“We want to make sure that the city is providing good, nutrient-dense, safe food to the people it’s serving,” Epstein said.
“Organic eggs are better for human health, with three times more unsaturated fats, 40% more vitamin A, and twice as much vitamin E compared to the USDA standard, and free-range eggs are also thought to contain superior nutrition. Following the lead of states like Florida, Ohio, and Kentucky, New York City should implement guardrails to keep people safe and healthy.”
The memo succinctly argues that eggs from caged hens are the products of cruelty, noting the hapless birds are confined to spaces smaller than a single sheet of letter-sized paper.
Self-service checkouts
No less than one employee for every three self-service checkouts, please!
Councilwoman Amanda FarÃas (D-Bronx) is pushing a bill to fine pharmacies and food retail stores up to $1,000 per employee every day that self-checkouts are not properly staffed.
The proper staff ratio, as defined by the bill, is one workers per every three self-checkout machine.
And it also requires that stores impose a 15-item maximum for the machines.
Both moves would help combat retail theft, a scourge that drives up the cost of food and essential goods, a memo supporting FarÃas’ bill states.
“Reinvesting in staffing is good for revenue, for jobs, and for consumer confidence,” the memo argues. “We must fix the system, rather than continuing to pass the cost of preventable losses onto New Yorkers who are already struggling with the affordability crisis.”
Farias added, “Retail theft has been a challenge for our city since the pandemic, and we have been working to address it from every angle. This legislation is another piece of that work.”
Elephant care
RIP, Happy the (allegedly unhappy) Elephant.
The long life of Happy in the Bronx Zoo lumbers in the background of a bill by Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) that prohibits keeping elephants in the city, unless strict conditions are met.
Elephants kept in the city must have at least 15 acres of usable habitat where they can forage for food or water, the bill stipulates. Female pachyderms must also be kept in groups and allowed to form herds, and likewise for males.
The requirements also emphatically state: “The elephant must not be mounted, ridden, or forced to do labor.”
‘Hostile architecture’
Does that bench look … hostile?
So-called “hostile architecture” designed to keep homeless people from resting or sleeping — such as spiked platforms or many-railed benches — across the city would be targeted in a bill by Councilman Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan).
“In 2017, 2021, and 2025, the MTA removed numerous benches from train platforms and replaced them with metal leaning bars; again, targeting the homeless population,” the bill’s memo states.
The bill, however, would take no action other than require the city’s planning department to conduct a study within 18 months of it becoming law.
A team for trees
Timber!
The city — which already has a robust Parks Department — would have to create a “task force” to coordinate the removal of fallen trees after severe weather under one bill.
Lighten the load
Delivery workers won’t have to make a single trip if their goods weigh more than 22 pounds under a bill pushed by Councilman Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan).
The bill would also prohibit the companies from requiring drivers wear backpacks.
“There is a study out of Berlin that said 22 pounds of weight on someone’s back can be the deciding factor on whether they live or die if they crash on a bicycle, and right now there’s no weight limit,” Marte said. “A weight limit will make it much safer for workers.”
BYOC
Bring your own cup.
A bill by Abreu would require restaurants, coffee shops and other eateries to allow customers to bring and use their own reusable cups for beverage orders.
Abolishing NYPD gang database
Lefties generally consider the database racist, but police officials — not least NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch — argue it’s a vital crime-fighting tool, with thousands of entries and intel including distinctive tattoos linked to criminal groups and gangs.
A spokesperson for bill sponsor Councilwoman Althea Stevens (D-Bronx) said the lawmaker has seen firsthand how the list unfairly targets black and brown people.
The list doesn’t have checks to make sure people on it have criminal histories, the spokesperson argued.
Handcuffing the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group
Another 26 Council members have signed onto a bill to prohibit the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group from deploying during First Amendment-protected protests.
SRG has long been a progressive bugbear, with opponents — including Mayor Zohran Mamdani — contending the unit regularly brutalizes protesters and tramples their rights. The specialized unit responds to civil disorder and major events, including parades and protests. It’s also deployed for major crime events, such as bank robberies, shootings and missing persons.
Police officials such as Tisch argue the unit plays a vital part in keeping protests from descending into violence.
Setting a $30 minimum wage
Lefty Council members want to set the Big Apple’s minimum wage at a very max $30 an hour.
The bill introduced by Councilwoman Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn) would nearly double the city’s current baseline pay of $17 and affect as many as 1 million workers.
Progressives have long called for a minimum wage to keep up with the city’s high cost of living, but business leaders warn it’ll be a costly disaster for employers.
Gender-affirming items for jail inmates
Transgender inmates in city jails will be able to request “gender-affirming items” under one proposed bill.
“These items include, but are not limited to, wigs, hair extensions, chest binders, tucking undergarments or gaffs, and prosthetics,” a memo in support of the bill states.
Union officials have slammed the proposal, sponsored by lefty Brooklyn Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, as potentially dangerous for corrections officers.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/21/us-news/the-wacky-and-dangerous-nyc-bills-that-could-soon-be-law/Texas Appeals Court Slashes Alex Jones’ $50 Million Sandy Hook Judgment by More Than $43 Million
A Texas appeals court on Friday delivered a significant victory to Infowars founder Alex Jones, drastically reducing the massive $50 million judgment against him in one of the Sandy Hook defamation cases.
The Texas Third Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the trial court abused its discretion by allowing parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis to exceed the state’s strict statutory cap on punitive (exemplary) damages.
The court ordered the punitive damages reduced from roughly $45.2 million down to $1.5 million, $750,000 for each parent, in line with Texas law, according to Reuters.
Jones still faces the roughly $4.1 million in compensatory damages the jury awarded, plus interest and fees, bringing the total Texas judgment to around $5.5–6 million.
More than $43 million was wiped from the judgment. That is a massive cut from the original figure.
In the 2022 trial, a jury found Jones liable and awarded the parents more than $50 million. Texas law generally caps non-economic punitive damages at $750,000 per plaintiff.
The trial judge allowed the parents’ lawyers to amend their claims after the liability verdict but before the final damages ruling, arguing that the trauma somehow counted as a “disability” that would let them blow past the cap.
The appeals court rejected that maneuver. The judges found the trial court improperly permitted a post-verdict amendment on grounds that were never pleaded or decided by the jury.
Jones wasted no time celebrating the ruling on his show Friday, calling it a “gigantic victory for the First Amendment.” He vowed to keep fighting and take the remaining damages to the Texas Supreme Court.
“I got lawyers who are good constitutional lawyers and they are not backing down,” Jones said.
For years Jones argued these lawsuits were pure lawfare designed to bankrupt him and silence a major independent voice. The left and its media allies cheered the original crushing judgments as justice. Now a Texas court has confirmed the original punitive award ignored the state’s own damage caps.
This ruling does not touch the separate Connecticut judgment that still hangs over Jones at roughly $1.4 billion. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Jones’ appeal of that case last year. Jones and Free Speech Systems remain in bankruptcy proceedings, and efforts to liquidate Infowars assets continue.
In May, The Gateway Pundit reported that Jones was forced to shut down Infowars’ longtime Austin studio after 27 years amid a court-ordered receivership and an attempted takeover of the platform by The Onion’s parent company.
Jones has repeatedly described the litigation as an assault on independent media and his First Amendment rights.
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