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Here’s a brief look at some potential winners and losers of this year’s trade deadline.

On the 47th anniversary of his tragic death, the catcher paid tribute as a lookalike behind the plate. 

Discussions are ongoing.

“First instinct I thought was try and rope him and drag him out before he gets too far down the river,” Jory Thomas said. “Luckily, I caught him first try.”

Before he puts on a Yankees uniform, he said his goodbyes to the city he called home for seven seasons in a post on social media. 

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Atomic Bomb, & The Perils Of Power

Authored by Jonathan Miltimore via The Epoch Times,

On Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, instantly killing tens of thousands and marking the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare.

Three days later, a second bomb, “Fat Man,” was dropped on Nagasaki.

Within days, Japan surrendered, bringing World War II to an end.

For most Americans, the bombings were greeted with celebration. Polls at the time revealed that nearly 70 percent of Americans said the bombing was a “good thing,” while just 17 percent said it was a “bad thing.”

In some respects, this is no surprise.

Thanks to the bomb, the war was over.

Japan, the nation that had blindsided the United States at Pearl Harbor nearly four years earlier, had finally been brought to its knees, forced to surrender unconditionally.

Watching these events unfold from England, a professor of Anglo-Saxon literature saw something very different.

‘Utter Folly’

In 1945, J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of Old English at Oxford and author of “The Hobbit” (1937), a book that would eventually become one of the most influential works of fantasy literature ever written.

Having served as a British Army officer in the trenches of World War I, Tolkien understood firsthand the horrors of modern warfare. Perhaps because of this, he recoiled upon learning of a new weapon that could destroy entire cities.

“The news today about ‘Atomic bombs’ is so horrifying one is stunned,” he wrote to his son Christopher. “The utter folly of these lunatic physicists to consent to do such work for war-purposes: calmly plotting the destruction of the world!”

Tolkien was no pacifist, and he recognized that U.S. President Harry Truman’s decision to drop this new superweapon might have a silver lining.

“Japan ought to cave in,” he admitted.

But even as he acknowledged the bomb’s immediate military value, Tolkien feared its long-term consequences. Humanity had crossed a threshold from which there would be no return.

“Such explosives in men’s hands,” he wrote, “while their moral and intellectual status is declining, is about as useful as giving out firearms to all inmates of a gaol and then saying that you hope ’this will ensure peace.'”

On ‘Babel-Builders’

Today, discussions over the atomic bomb usually involve whether it was morally justified to drop it on Japan. Unlike in 1945, Americans are very much split on the matter. Recent polling shows 35 percent say the bombings were justified, while 31 percent say they were not.

The fact that a full one-third of Americans say they’re not sure if the bombing was the right thing shows how morally complicated the matter is. (If you doubt this, consider that General Dwight Eisenhower and Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy opposed dropping the bomb on moral grounds and because they doubted its military necessity.)

What is less often asked is whether the bomb should have been developed at all. The question is easy to dismiss. After all, Nazi Germany launched its own nuclear research program in April 1939. Had the Allies declined to pursue the bomb, they might have handed history’s most destructive weapon to Adolf Hitler.

There is also a philosophical hurdle. Science has long been celebrated as the engine of human progress. To oppose a scientific breakthrough on ethical grounds has a whiff of Luddism—a kind of rejection of progress itself.

Tolkien, once again, saw things differently. Though admitting “we’re all in God’s hands” now, he offered a word of caution about humanity’s growing faith in its own power. “He does not look kindly on Babel-builders,” he told Christopher.

By invoking the famous Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel, in which God confused and scattered the nations for attempting to reach the heavens, Tolkien was warning against a perennial temptation: placing human ingenuity and knowledge above moral wisdom.

The theme of man’s lust for knowledge and power would be developed in his next literary masterpiece.

‘An Allegory of Our Own Time’

In 1942, as the Manhattan Project was beginning in the United States, Tolkien was developing the core narrative of what would become “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first volume of his “The Lord of the Rings” epic.

Though the book would not be published until 1954, Tolkien spent much of the 1940s writing and revising the manuscript. The story follows a fellowship of nine companions who embark on a perilous quest to destroy the One Ring, a weapon of immense power that threatens to destroy all of Middle-earth.

The Ring is so powerful that no one—not even the heroes of the story—should possess it.

Indeed, Tolkien’s wisest and bravest characters all reject it. The wizard Gandalf refuses the Ring when it is offered to him. The elf queen Galadriel does the same. Aragorn, whose ancestor was killed after being corrupted by the Ring, is wary of its power and never seeks it.

Meanwhile, those who desire the Ring or attempt to wield its power—Boromir, Sauron, and Gollum—are ultimately destroyed by it.

The One Ring has rightly been interpreted as a metaphor for power; after all, Tolkien himself called it the “Ring of Power.” But in a 1947 letter to his publisher, he put a finer point on the idea.

“You can make the Ring an allegory of our own time, if you like,” he wrote, “an allegory of the inevitable fate that awaits all attempts to defeat evil power by power.”

These words help explain why Tolkien viewed the atomic bomb with such horror. It was a weapon created to “defeat evil power” through overwhelming force. In Tolkien’s view, the danger was not simply the weapon itself, but the modern faith in power and the belief that it could be controlled by those who possessed it.

Tolkien’s line about “Babel-builders” and “lunatic physicists” could give the impression that he rejected science. He did not. He was simply recognizing the limits of science. The fantasy writer, a devout Catholic, understood that even though scientists could unlock the power of the atom, they could not fix humanity.

By 1945, it had become apparent that moral wisdom and scientific progress do not necessarily advance at the same pace. If the Great War and the horrors of the Soviet Union in the 1930s had not made this clear, the military destruction of the 1940s and the liberation of Auschwitz in January 1945 did.

Humanity had acquired unprecedented power without acquiring the corresponding wisdom to restrain it. For Tolkien, this was the great danger of the modern age. Man was learning to harness the forces of nature even as he slid comfortably toward its oldest sins: pride, envy, and the lust for power.

None of this is to say the Ring of Power is an allegory for nuclear weapons. It is not. Tolkien himself made that quite clear in a BBC interview in the 1960s.

Yet a central lesson of his literary masterpiece is that some forms of power are simply too great for humans to possess.

Perhaps, then, the greatest virtue is not seeking out people who can wield great power wisely, but in possessing the humility to recognize that some power should never be wielded at all.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/02/2026 - 23:20

The Giants' firesale appears to be underway.

One of the few fears in a John Harbaugh-Giants marriage is protecting a fourth-quarter lead. 

It took a lot of courage for the family of Angel Sarah Rampersad to refuse to allow Mayor Mamdani to speak at her funeral on Friday.

How China Is Using Its Coast Guard To Assert Control At Sea

Over the past decade, China's Coast Guard (CCG) has evolved from a conventional maritime law enforcement agency into a central instrument of Beijing's strategy to reinforce its territorial claims, according to Bloomberg.

Now operating a fleet of roughly 680 vessels, it continues to conduct routine missions such as search and rescue, anti-smuggling operations, and fisheries enforcement, but increasingly serves broader strategic objectives.

Bloomberg reports that rather than relying solely on the navy, Beijing deploys the CCG to project control over contested waters in the South China Sea, East China Sea, and around Taiwan. Coast guard vessels regularly patrol disputed areas, escort Chinese fishing fleets, inspect foreign vessels, and employ coercive measures—including water cannons, lasers, blocking maneuvers, and collisions—to challenge rival claimants. They also operate alongside the People's Liberation Army Navy during military exercises, particularly those focused on Taiwan.

CCG operations have become both more frequent and more assertive. In mid-July, Chinese coast guard ships confronted Philippine vessels on three occasions, using water cannons despite the incidents occurring within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. Taiwan has likewise reported a marked increase in CCG patrols, including sustained operations east of the island, fueling concerns that the force would play a prominent role in any future blockade or military campaign.

Analysts view the CCG as a key component of China's "gray-zone" strategy. Because its ships are presented as civilian law enforcement rather than naval assets, Beijing can press its maritime claims while making it more difficult for other countries to respond without risking military escalation. Maintaining a persistent coast guard presence also strengthens China's claim that it exercises effective control over disputed waters.

The agency's strategic importance has grown alongside institutional reforms. Created in 2013 through the merger of several maritime agencies, the CCG was placed under the People's Armed Police in 2018, bringing it under the authority of the Central Military Commission. A 2021 Coast Guard Law further broadened its powers, authorizing the use of force to defend China's claimed maritime rights. At the same time, the fleet has expanded to include some of the world's largest coast guard ships, several of which rival naval warships in size and capability.

China's increasing reliance on the CCG has prompted neighboring states to strengthen maritime cooperation, expand their own coast guard fleets, and step up patrols in disputed waters, contributing to a more contested and potentially volatile maritime environment.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/02/2026 - 22:45

SAN DIEGO — All was quiet in the visitors’ dugout Sunday afternoon. No commotion to make a mid-inning substitution. Nothing to see for anyone on hug watch. A few hundred miles up the coast, president of baseball operations Buster Posey and his contingent of Giants executives hunkered down in their offices inside Oracle Park and...

Fetch Her Grace’s sick burgundy riding leathers. And this time Rhaenyra means it.

An Ohio nutjob is facing years behind bars after she reportedly phoned in dozens of bomb threats to government offices in Mississippi investigating Nolan Wells’ death. Michelle Francine Edwards allegedly left 29 alarming calls with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office last month threatening “the clock is ticking” and...

'You're Like A Parrot': RFK Jr. Destroys Dana Bash Over Fauci's COVID Lies

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. obliterated CNN's Dana Bash during a fiery interview Sunday morning on State of the Union, and it was brutal.

The segment aired as measles outbreaks tore through several states, with public health officials warning that unvaccinated communities were fueling the spread of the disease to levels not seen in decades. Those outbreaks trace back to Joe Biden's presidency, when his administration allowed millions of illegal immigrants to pour across the southern border and bring diseases like measles back into communities that had all but wiped them out.

Bash spent much of the interview pushing Kennedy to look "into the camera" and tell parents to vaccinate their kids against measles. Kennedy did it.

He said exactly what she wanted him to say.

Then Bash kept going, and the interview went off the rails.

The conversation curdled into a fight over how the media treated skeptics and anyone who dared question the Biden administration's COVID-era public health guidance during the pandemic.

"You tweeted back in 2024 that [President Trump] let bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci shut down the entire country. Again, the president was in charge," Bash said to Kennedy.

“Trump, as you recall, wanted to end the lockdowns. I think the thing that did the most damage to our country was the lockdowns,” he said.

"Anthony Fauci was mismanaging the COID pandemic and he was doing it under the Biden Administration. President Trump wanted to end the lockdowns. And in fact, in Anthony Fauci's diaries, he talks about how President Trump was calling him every day, trying to get him to reopen the country," he added.

Bash continued with another accusation.

"You are the HHS secretary, and you are talking about things that lead to vaccine hesitancy in this country," she said.

"And it's something that causes problems for people when there is not anything."

Kennedy wasn't having it.

"Let me ask you something," he said.

"Do you see your job as ending vaccine hesitancy or do you see your job as telling the truth to the American people?"

Bash insisted her job was telling the truth.

"There is study after study after study," she said. "It's one of the most studied things out there in science." 

Kennedy pounced.

"You're repeating it like a parrot," he said, twice for emphasis.

Bash shot back, "So are you."

Kennedy wasn't buying it.

"I've actually read the science," he said. "You don't want to come back here and debate the science."

From there, Kennedy dismantled the premise CNN built its entire segment on: that trusting government "experts" is the same thing as trusting the truth.

"All you know how to do is repeat things that people told you and say, trust the experts," he said.

"That's what you did during COVID. Now we know that Anthony Fauci, who was the ‘expert,’ was lying about everything, about masks, about social distancing, about natural immunity, about the transmission from the vaccine, about the source of COVID. He was lying, and you were punishing people for not trusting the experts. And now you're rolling out the ‘experts’ again to talk about something that you have no personal knowledge of."

Bash tried to defend herself. "That is my job, to talk to people," she said. Kennedy wasn't finished. "Your job is to tell the truth to the American people," he replied.

.@SecKennedy NUKES @DanaBashCNN:

"I'm not debating this with you."

"Of course you won't. All you know how to do is repeat things that people told you and say, 'Trust the experts!' That's what you did during Covid. Now we know that Anthony Fauci, who was the 'expert,' was… pic.twitter.com/IVRLJfDSZ6

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 2, 2026

If Bash thought she could lob a bunch of accusations against Kennedy and he would take it quietly, she was sorely mistaken. Kennedy didn't dodge a single question. He turned every one of them into an indictment of a press corps that spent years demanding blind obedience and calling it science.

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/02/2026 - 22:10

The Alys Rivers actress gives us an update on where Aemond and Alys's romance is: "Have they consummated this relationship?"

The addition of Luis García Jr. could – if the Yankees ever reach full positional health – create a logjam at first base and DH.

Helaena gets to have her dragon — and her chickens! — but only in her Dreams.

The couple are on the rocks just two weeks before their wedding day.

The couple are on the rocks just two weeks before their wedding day.

Let them all burn.