Behold the “glueball,” a strange new form of matter Science
A U.S. Strategy to Prevent the Creation of Mirror Life RAND
The economy under your skin Our Long Walk
Climate/Environment
Potpourri—Facets of life, faith and reality William E Rees
♫ Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ♫ The Climate Brink
Amid Drought, Hundreds of French Rivers Are Drying Up Yale Environment 360
‼️ Another 1000-YR Rain.
In fact in some cases it exceeded the criteria by almost 2X. Catastrophic #Flood underway, Flood Emergency for #Indiana in Cambridge City, near New Castle, South of Muncie, east of #Indianapolis. Stay safe folks, turn around don’t drown!
Here’s the… pic.twitter.com/Uhzru4iHDW
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) August 12, 2026
Global warming is coming for the countryside Science
Migrant Workers Face Housing Crisis in Summer of Fire The Tyee
Japan
Myth: US Intervened to Support Yen Out Of Fears About US Interest Rates Japan Economy Watch
China?
China’s top court highlights first Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law ruling amid global tensions South China Morning Post
The west has given China the keys to the medicine cabinet FT
Syraqistan
‘Israel wages ecocide against southern Lebanon’s woodlands Al Mayadeen
Video of Israeli soldiers using medieval-style catapult to launch “fireballs” into south Lebanon’s farmland https://t.co/NhBnlSFVib pic.twitter.com/pcw9WKlQGm
— Jeremy Loffredo (@loffredojeremy) August 12, 2026
Meet the media and militiamen funded by ‘Lebanese AIPAC Guy’ pushing Beirut into Israel’s hands The Grayzone
Who Are the True Defenders of the Christian Faith in West Asia? Vanessa Beeley
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Oil Spill From Grounded Shadow Fleet Tanker Could Rival Exxon Valdez Reuters
Encore at the Cirque Du Hormuz – The Greatest Show on Earth! Simplicius
Iranian F-5s Bombing U.S. Forces In Kuwait Should Be A Wake-Up Call: Ex-USAF General The War Zone
The Mojtaba Doctrine Séamus Malekafzali
Africa
US Senate votes to extend AGOA trade programme for 32 African nations Africa News
Old Blighty
UK withholds files on Israeli firm accused of meddling in Scottish election, citing national security Middle East Monitor
European Disunion
A “Car Crash” Made in Europe – And How to Fix It Green European Journal
New Not-So-Cold War
Worse Than Hate. Aurelien
HRW urges Congress to block Turkey’s proposed cluster munition transfer to Ukraine Turkish Minute
Nord Stream and the patriotic idiots Events in Ukraine
Pompeo + Yermak = ??? Roman Khimich
MORNING BRIEFING, THURSDAY 13 AUGUST
Overnight strikes ran in both directions across the Black Sea theatre while Putin made an unprecedented visit to the disputed Kuril chain. Washington’s Cuba posture and a NASA broadcast graphic added to the day’s friction points.
OVERNIGHT…
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) August 13, 2026
South of the Border
Colombia authorizes joint anti-drug ops with US military, says Hegseth Le Monde
‘It’s Not For Camera But There Are Other Plans’- Old Documentary Clip Implies Israel Lobby Was Pushing For Venezuela Regime Change Since 2009. The Dissident
Trump 2.0
INCARCERATED FOR LIFE IN TRUMP’S WAR ON THE LEFT Rolling Stone
Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon picks raise questions over Trump family business ties The Guardian
The US Navy is in Crisis and Pete Hegseth Does Not Give Damn Larry Johnson
The VA’s Race to Shrink Its Backlog Is Leading to ‘Egregious’ Mistakes NOTUS
Trump’s Ex-Wife Reveals President Kept Kabbalistic Text Close To His Heart For “Protection And Healing” DD Geopolitics
crazy story
Elon Musk and DOGE destroyed decades of USAID data, but luckily it was recoverable because a Canadian high schooler coincidentally downloaded the archive for a school project pic.twitter.com/VeRxvRL5zF
— Cameron 🇺🇸 🗽🦅 (@CameronCorduroy) August 12, 2026
Democrats Suck
Health Insurers Are Paying Third Way as It Targets the Left Sludge
Can AOC Win the Working Class? Les Leopold
AOC Would Be A Liberal Imperialist President. The Dissident
Bidenomics Was More Successful Than People Think The Atlantic. Still trying this argument I see.
The Theory That Explains Democratic Socialism’s Surge Un-Diplomatic
Economy
While We Focused on Fripperies, the Foundations Have Rotted Away Charles Hugh Smith
Stagnation: the norm Chris Dillow
Imperial Collapse Watch
Fiasco in the Factory: Taxpayers Funded a $533 Million Artillery Plant That Made Nothing ProPublica. Including a real-life dumpster fire!
Farm linked to cyclosporiasis outbreak hadn’t been inspected in 7 years as FDA lags on foreign inspection targets CBS News
On Converging and Systemic Crises Ann Pettifor
AI
AI-driven productivity gains enable more CO₂ emissions than they avoid in a global energy–economy model npc Climate Action
AI data center developers begin suing local jurisdictions behind bans and moratoriums — claims range from officials exceeding authority to violations of due process and equal protection laws Tom’s Hardware
Police State Watch
Smart Glasses Are Catching on With U.S. Police Gizmodo
The $25 MILLION ICE stun gloves are fucking diabolical.
If you want to see how they’re supposed to work, watch this video. There’s no way this ends well.
Now add this to the fact that DHS has already said body-cam footage will only be released when it’s “beneficial” to ICE.
So… pic.twitter.com/dFKbx8Qgh1
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) August 13, 2026
Mamdani
Mamdani’s Surveillance State New York Magazine. Seems fair.
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
The Government is Monitoring Anti-Flock TikTok and Instagram Accounts 404 Media
Big Tech Wants to Harvest Your Thoughts Wired
Sports Desk
Who is Josh Kushner, the billionaire who just bought the Lakers? CNN
Our Famously Free Press
Texas Locked a Foreign Company’s Domain Over Missing Digital ID Checks Reclaim the Net. Commentary:
Oh look, porn “age verification” laws now mean Texas is choosing what websites the entire world is allowed to see or not. https://t.co/gDm6zgRUQe
— Nicole Prause (@NicoleRPrause) August 12, 2026
Groves of Academe
The “Godmother of AI” says the biggest AI risk in schools isn’t cheating – it’s students losing the desire to learn TechSpot
Casino Nation
US tries to override New York gambling laws, orders Kalshi to keep operating Ars Technica
Class Warfare
The Union Deal That’s Undermining Gig Workers Jacobin. Union leaders would never.
Inflation came in perfectly on forecast. Almost everything underneath it is a ‘mess’ as wages struggle to keep up Fortune
Never forget that when rental inflation was spiraling in the midst of rental price-fixing conspiracy orchestrated by RealPage, Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times that rent hikes owed to increasing demand for home offices in the post-Covid era. It’s always factors beyond the…
— Hal Singer (@halsinger) August 12, 2026
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
