IdleGuy.com, August 2026, Volume 3, #8

1. Cover - This month's cover tells only part of the story of the August issue, the sports part, but only because there are a lot more idleguys out there that resonate with sports than there are who know who Dalton Trumbo was, or what the discerning features of financial repression are, so we took the easy way out. That may change...

2. From the Publisher's Desk - Writeen by Claude AI in Fearless Rick's voice, this month's editorial describes the current unaffordability crisis from an historical context.

3. Contents /Credits - This is where you are.

4. Calendar - Multiple events, from conventions, to sporting events, to political gatherings are detailed.

5. State of the World - Something's wrong, but Michael Green, the CFA who penned "My Life Is A Lie" back in 2025, points out what it is.

6. Feature - A preseason look at the NFL heading into 2026. Too much data, too many opinions, so we went with a chart.

7. Sports - IdleGuy.com's Preseason NCAA Top 25 broke down the advances from a variety of sources and came up with a reasonable list to get the college football season started.

7a. Sports Extra - Daily standout performances from the American and National Leagues in our exclusive MLB Players of the Day, updated, um, daily.

8. Money - The rising cost of back-to-school spending in 2026, and where families are actually cutting back.

9. Food & Drink - The surprisingly contested history of the sandwich and the American bagged lunch, plus a few classics worth packing this month.

10. Books - Intuition, pre-cognition and outside influences are the tops from the works of Malcolm Gladwell and others.

11. Public Domain / Toast of the Town - Dalton Trumbo was probably the most infuential member of the Hollywood 10, who were banned from the movie business by a congressional committee. His story is worth knowing.

12. Outdoors - When does deer season arrive, and what's better? a rifle or a shotgun. Depends on what you're hunting.

13. Travel - Where can Americans get the most bang for their bucks on travels abroad?

14. Mind, Body, Spirit - Faith Healing and Faith in Healing, two completely different ideas.

15. Back Page - Contact form and a look ahead to the September issue.

Mostly Magazines Store - Titles added as fast as we can, so you can enjoy back issues of Playboy and Sports Illustrated plus other items of interest.

Daily Idler - A daily quiz, crossword, plus useful links to things like money, beer, and sports on our portal page.

France - There's always something interesting going on in France. We report on it.

Home - All of the past issues, arranged by date with cover photos.

CREDITS

Publisher: (Fearless) Rick Gagliano

Assistant Publisher: Claude AI

Graphics: Fearless Rick renderings from freely-available sources.

Photography: Fearless Rick, various internet inputs.

Everything Else: Fearless Rick (FR) and Claude AI. All articles, unless otherwise noted, are written by Claude AI, who is responsible for complete articles, or, given prompts and instructions from the publisher, and has been employed for outlines, suggestions, formatting. Most of the time, attribution is awarded for outside work, which is almost never because people want money for articles that are crap.

Distribution: The Internet.

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Copyright August 2026, Volume 3, #8, idleguy.com, Downtown Magazine Inc. All rights reserved.

IdleGuy.com is a fully owned subsidiary of Downtown Magazine Inc. Further information can be found at the websites: idleguy.com and dtmagazine.com. All information contained in this or any other issue which is not in compliance with (most of) the laws of the United States of America, especially those that are actually constitutional, are void, by default. Readers will hold harmless Downtown Magazine Inc., its officers and employees from any damages arising from the perusal and use of this website and any personal visits from aliens, immigrants or space types, the deep state, IRS, FBI, Mossad, IDF, etc.. Some articles are satire. IdleGuy.com June or June not mark them as such.

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Corrections: If you find any errors, we surely didn't make them, or, more likely, you are mistaken. AI is employed in the sourcing of information for most of the articles in this issue.

This month's issue is dedicated to anybody who's ever been told to shut up and didn't.