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Links 10/10/2025

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Japanese Farmers Send Out Automated Laser Drones to Defend Chickens Futurism

Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US? Construction Physics

The Hitchhikers Guide to Building A Lot of Subways The Transit Guy

‘Bluetoothing’: Blood-Sharing Drug Trend Fuels Alarming Global H.I.V. Surge New York Times

Powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes off southern Philippines, tsunami warning issued Straits Times

Climate/Environment

Amazon fires cause record-breaking CO2 emissions Climate and Capitalism

Cost of Europe’s extreme weather doubled this decade – and could hit €126 billion by 2029 Euronews

Scientists seek to turbocharge a natural process that cools the Earth WaPo

The cooking pot that changed the world New Climate Reality

Has the Anthropocene Been Canceled? Monthly Review

Pandemics

Long COVID Linked to Surge in POTS Cases Neuroscience News

Evidence of clinical and brain recovery in post-COVID-19 condition: a three-year follow-up study Brain Communications

India

Sir Creek comes alive from slumber Indian Punchline

China seeks India’s assurance on no heavy rare earths diversion to US Economic Times

China?

Coalition Urges Trump To Reverse US Shift Away From Strategic Ambiguity on Taiwan Antiwar

Ahead of plenum, party mouthpiece likens China’s economy to ‘unsinkable’ aircraft carrier South China Morning Post

The silencing of prominent influencers China Translated

Why America Builds AI Girlfriends and China Makes AI Boyfriends ChinaTalk

Syraqistan

Hamas gets guarantees of end to Gaza war, Israel approves ceasefire Al Jazeera

Is Trumpanyahu’s peace plan being implemented? GeoPolitiQ

Witkoff, Kushner join cabinet meeting on Gaza deal after meeting with PM in Jerusalem Times of Israel

“Keep the Champagne corked.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist

Israel rules out Marwan Barghouti’s release as Hamas says Netanyahu seeking to ‘blow up truce’ The Cradle

U.S. sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor ceasefire deal in Gaza AP

Ben-Gvir warns will topple Netanyahu’s govt over Hamas Al Mayadeen

Timeline: Phony Biden “Ceasefire” Sabotaged ICJ Orders. Hamas “Welcomed” the Move. Sam Husseini. ‘Is Trump “Peace” Deal Designed to Undermine Uniting for Peace?’

Germany calls for UN Security Council Resolution to provide legal basis for Gaza peace plan Anadolu Agency

***

Iran warns of Israeli ‘deception, breach of commitments’ after Gaza ceasefire deal Press TV. ““The beginning of the ceasefire in Gaza may be behind the scenes of the end of the ceasefire elsewhere,” [Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution] wrote on X on Thursday using the hashtags #Iraq, #Yemen, and #Lebanon.”

***

How a Scottish maritime museum ended up in Israel’s 3D propaganda videos +972 Magazine

US approves AI chip exports to UAE, as talks progress with Saudi Arabia: Report Middle East Eye

Old Blighty

Massive data leak linked to Online Safety Act security measures The Canary

European Disunion

EXCLUSIVE: European Investment Bank ready to invest in drone defence Euractiv

In Germany’s Depressed East, Tanks Are the Lesser of Two Evils New York Times

Google to invest $5.8B in Belgium’s AI, cloud infrastructure in next 2 years Anadolu Agency

U.S. Turns to Finnish Expertise to Jump-Start Icebreaker Production gCaptain

New Not-So-Cold War

Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize If He Sends Tomahawk Missiles Antiwar

NATO Goes Mad American Conservative

Smart “gas station,” Or how Russia became a maritime power Marat Khairullin Substack

Russia marches forward with safe and convenient biometric IDs for schoolchildren Edward Slavsquat

Putin says Russian air defenses were to blame for Azerbaijani jet’s crash last year, killing 38 AP

South of the Border

Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado wins Nobel peace prize The Guardian

Dina Boluarte Ousted from Peruvian Presidency by Unanimous Congressional Vote Telesur

Trump 2.0

Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups Reuters

New York AG Letitia James indicted for alleged bank fraud Axios

TRUMP SACRIFICES ALASKA WILDERNESS TO HELP AI COMPANIES The Intercept

Sean Duffy Says He Wants to Fire ‘Problem Children’ Air Traffic Controllers NOTUS

Judge temporarily blocks Trump National Guard deployment to Chicago area The Hill

Reverse Marbury Balkinization

Democrats en déshabillé

Weimar Republic

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US Wired

Police State Watch

CoreCivic prison company will rake in $300 million from new ICE contracts Stocktonia

US prison population rises for second straight year Ohio Capital Journal

Immigration

Arrested for being Iranian: How a war in the Middle East gave ICE new targets at home Prism

Exclusive: Apple Made ICE Agents a Protected Class Migrant Insider

Economy

Mass Deportations Drain Economic Growth Dollars & Sense

First Brands’ implosion is ripping through private credit – and lenders are scrambling to contain the fallout CNBC

Imperial Collapse Watch

How Acquisition Reform Could Make Military AI More Expensive and Less Safe Lawfare

AI

McKinsey wonders how to sell AI apps with no measurable benefits The Register

AI models can acquire backdoors from surprisingly few malicious documents Ars technica

Groves of Academe

Trump’s University Compact demonstrates weakness, not strength Programmable Mutter

Healthcare?

No Surprises, But Plenty of Abuses: How Insurers Are Pulling the Strings on the No Surprises Act HEALTH CARE un-covered

Amazon to start offering prescription drugs through vending machines CBS News

Supply Chain

Chocolate prices set to remain high this Halloween in the US, report says Reuters

Our Famously Free Press

How Journalists Grease the Skids for Worthless Corporate Handouts Boondoggle

The Bezzle

Overshooters N+1

Class Warfare

Investors are making up the highest share of homebuyers in 5 years CNBC

Taking the Reins: Story Updates Working Class Storytelling

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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135 comments

  1. leaf

    https://x.com/Sino_Market/status/1976544907323113592
    “CHINA’S MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT: STARTING OCTOBER 14, 2025, SPECIAL PORT CHARGES WILL BE IMPOSED ON VESSELS OWNED BY U.S. COMPANIES, ORGANIZATIONS, OR INDIVIDUALS.
    SPECIAL PORT CHARGES TO BE LEVIED ON VESSELS OPERATED BY U.S. ENTITIES, VESSELS OWNED OR OPERATED BY ENTITIES WITH 25%+ U.S. EQUITY OR CONTROL, VESSELS FLYING THE U.S. FLAG, AND VESSELS BUILT IN THE U.S.”

    https://x.com/tphuang/status/1976300183043363065
    https://x.com/tphuang/status/1976363581479477492
    It appears the export controls are very extensive and ironically appear to follow the US’s controls on China. I seem to recall that the WTO had previously slapped down China for attempting RE controls previously and they complied but America blowing up the WTO by blocking the appointment of new judges has made it possible now

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-10/china-opens-antitrust-probe-of-qualcomm-s-autotalks-deal (https://archive.is/ZtQKl)
    China anti-trust probe on Qualcomm

    Now will this just be part of negotiations for the APEC meeting and extracting concessions over Taiwan and the other garrisons in the Pacific or a divorce? Also curious on how Trump will attempt to spin all of this as a win in his usual style

    Reply ↓
      1. leaf

        China doing this to America is better than virtually everything the surrounding Arab countries have done, given the likely effect this will have on American arms production. But even if they did do these same measures to Israel, you can be assured that the collective West would break its back to reroute everything for their foothold in West Asia
        https://x.com/RedPillMediaX/status/1975767293478019583

        Reply ↓
        1. Mikel

          “you can be assured that the collective West would break its back to reroute everything for their foothold in West Asia”

          Something to consider whenever one hears about how Israel is “isolated”.

          Reply ↓
          1. hk

            In a way, it’s the mirror image of Russia’s “isolation.” Russia is indeed isolated from the West, but the West means rather little to Russia, given developments of past decade or two. Israel is isolated from the “rest of the World,” but it was never that invested outside the West…except Apartheid South Africa.

            Reply ↓
      1. Ben Panga

        Text of Trump post [my God it needs paragraph breaks]

        Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China. Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would “clog” the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China. We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere. Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right! There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World “captive,” but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the “Magnets” and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least. But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW! The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every Element that they want to withhold from other Nations. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all. I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so. The Chinese letters were especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. I wonder if that timing was coincidental? Dependent on what China says about the hostile “order” that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come. Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the U.S.A. One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

        Is the bolded bit true? Bullshit is not an ‘Element’ after all.

        Also “especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST” is grand even for Trump

        Reply ↓
        1. amfortas

          jeez, louise.
          i’m almost afraid every mornin to take a gander at whats happened in the world…especially with our own gooberment.
          makes me almost miss biden’s form of dementia.*
          feels more and more that they’re trying to crash and burn everything.
          thank the Goddess for the Noble Herb.

          (* and i spent several hours stuck in the car with mom,yesterday,lol…so i know dementia(and narcissism(hers, covert)) when i see it. thats one thing…i can avoid her, and just stay on my side of the place. but for the “leader of the Free World”(sic)?…and just about his entire cabinet?)

          Reply ↓
      2. jsn

        With what labor force? The one living in cars and tents?

        While managing the mammoth bezzle reveal coming for the growth sector of the US economy, likely with a Middle East war topping!

        Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    “Sean Duffy Says He Wants to Fire ‘Problem Children’ Air Traffic Controllers”

    Sean Duffy says too that if there are not enough Air traffic Controllers to man all the positions needed, then he will simply go down to McDonalds and hire a bunch of them by offering $2 an hour more.

    Reply ↓
    1. Ben Panga

      >if there are not enough Air traffic Controllers to man all the positions needed

      AI will solve it. What could go wrong?

      Reply ↓
    2. Louis Fyne

      As “white noise”, I put on yotube livestreams of the air traffic (overlaid with the live air traffic control chatter).

      If you listen enough times, you recognize the voices of the impeccable controllers (cadence, clarity, efficiency) and the occasional the sloppy controllers.

      Both can be true…shortage of controllers and controllers who are im the job who shouldn’t be there—-particularly at the busiest airports.

      it’s all in public record, and there is a cottage industry of youtube channels that highlight the highs and lows of ATC and pilots

      Reply ↓
    3. MT_Wild

      I have a friend who is a ATC at our local regional airport. Four out of four recent air traffic school grads assigned to our airport failed their field training at the airport. These will be the only trainees they receive this year. The airport is chronically understaffed, with everyone working at least one day mandatory overtime each week.

      His impression is that this is the norm across the country, and that they are getting fewer and fewer trainees that can pass training, and under immense pressure from both the union and the FAA to lower standards.

      There has also been a marked increase in missed shifts due to illness since the start of the shutdown.

      Reply ↓
      1. Kurtismayfield

        This sounds like a compensation issue.. if you can’t attract people capable of the job then increase the pay.

        Reply ↓
        2. cfraenkel

          Sounds like? Why? What in MT_Wilds post has anything to do with compensation? Not saying it isn’t, but $$ is the knee-jerk bandaid cure-all for people who don’t want to turn over the rock and deal with the rot underneath. What about being confident that every other administration will put their career and retirement at risk? What about the stress of being responsible for peoples lives? What about the sorry state of US education and the attention harming effects of phone addiction?
          Absolutely, increase the pay scale to make the career more attractive. But it’s not the only issue.

          Reply ↓
        3. ForFawkesSakes

          FAA requirements state that you must be under 31 years of age at time of application. The FAA itself states that only 10% of applicants meet its criteria for hire. Make it make sense!

          Reply ↓
      2. griffen

        I checked this out yesterday, what is likely a purposeful screening to attract young bright eyed applicants is one must be under 31 at the outset of application and training. Progress towards a bachelor’s degree but a full-on BS degree wasn’t listed per the FAA website. Eye surgery and glaucoma would be other restrictions.

        My family member who this week gave me the suggestion summed it this way. “Old farts need not apply…”. Not an old fart but I’m hitting 53 before the Christmas holiday or instead Festivus if you prefer that celebration.

        This administration really should be better at diagnosing their ownership of this hiring and HR messaging failure, but I don’t believe in unicorns either.

        Reply ↓
  3. ChrisFromGA

    Re: US to send 200 troops to Gaza

    A clear violation of the War Powers Act of 1973.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution

    provides that the president can send the U.S. Armed Forces into action abroad by Congress, “statutory authorization”, or in case of “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces”.

    The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30-day withdrawal period, without congressional authorization for use of military force (AUMF) or a declaration of war by the United States.

    Unfortunately, we have a derelict and weak Congress that will not do anything about it. Heck, the House is not even in session, with the weakling Speaker Mike Johnson in hiding to avoid the Epstein files discharge petition from getting the 218th vote.

    Reply ↓
  4. Mikel

    “The Nobel prize in literature went to an anti-Arab eugenicist, and the prize in peace to a far-right CIA plant advocating for American invasion, sanctions, and regime change. If anything, this shows the reactionary cultural turn. This is a capitulation to Trumpism.”

    “Trumpism”? This is what the wealthy, GLOBAL elite are paying for.

    Reply ↓
    1. vao

      I must admit I had never heard about László Krasznahorkai before. I knew about Satantango, but only as a movie by Béla Tarr.

      “The Nobel prize in literature went to an anti-Arab eugenicist”

      Any pointers to some exposition corroborating that judgement? The information about his Weltanschauung is pretty scarce in Wikipedia.

      Reply ↓
      1. JohnA

        Krasznahorkai is anti Orban and pro Ukraine in the current political scene. That makes him a shoo-in for unctious praise from western media. However, I confess to never having read any of his books. If Péter Esterházy had not died at just 66 about 10 years ago, I would have put him first in line for a Hungarian author to be awarded the Nobel for literature. Would have been a worthy winner, in my mind.

        Reply ↓
        1. hk

          Nobel in literature, like the peace prize, tends to go to people whose worldviews match Western elites’ proclivities. Too many of them went to fashionable political activists lately rather than people who are truly innovative and lucid writers.

          Then again, Churchill won a Nobel prize in literature for work of self adulation, no?

          Reply ↓
            2. bertl

              That was when the fashionable literary liberal classes hated apartheid. They have changed their views since then and after the attempt to restore it’s always shaky relevance by awarding it to Bob Dylan, the Nobel once again seeks to flatter the liberal authoritarian political classes of the Collective West by tossing it to an anti-Russian critic of Orban, who handles it deftly with the simple statement, “Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Hungary’s Nobel Prize laureate in literature, brings pride to our nation. Congratulations!”

              Reply ↓
    2. lyman alpha blob

      Can’t be long now before all these global institutions put up “Arbeit Macht Frei” signs at the entrances of their buildings and stop pretending.

      Reply ↓
  5. LawnDart

    Re; Police State Watch

    What a disturbing video.

    So why were those ladies targeted? What was the “probable cause,” or is having brown skin cause enough?

    Reply ↓
      1. LawnDart

        Well, I suppose that the white guys who wear Adidas track suits, gold chains, and have heavy Eastern European accents are still safe then…

        Reply ↓
  6. The Rev Kev

    ‘Sina Toossi
    @SinaToossi
    🚨Putin says today that Israel told Moscow to relay a message to Tehran that “Tel Aviv is not seeking confrontation” and wants a “peaceful resolution” with Iran. He adds that Russia remains in close contact with both sides and backs a diplomatic path on Iran’s nuclear issue.’

    Israel also told Iran that they can take a solid run at a football that they will be holding on the ground so that they can kick it away and promise not to pull it away.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA

      Why would Putin let himself be used as a stooge to trick Iran into a false sense of complacency?

      I smell a rat here … what is the actual source for this rumor?

      Reply ↓
      1. Afro

        Honestly I don’t understand the problem.

        Putin just passed along a message. It doesn’t mean that he believes it nor that he expects others to believe it.

        He may simply be pretending that he believes it.

        Reply ↓
        1. ChrisFromGA

          First of all, we need to be skeptical of such rumors and look for a reputable source. We know that we live in an age of all-out propaganda and information wars. Who actually heard Putin say that, was it an actual written statement that can be corroborated?

          Don’t be naive! there are plenty of bad actors inside the Trump and Netanyahu administrations who will resort to all kinds of treachery, as seen in the corruption of the IAEA inspectors to spy for Israel, pager attacks, etc. It would fit their style to make false attributions of Russian statements as part of a pre-war info-space shaping campaign.

          Reply ↓
          1. Ben Panga

            The source is TASS, as a few seconds googling indicates.

            https://tass.com/politics/2027655

            Israel has indicated that it is not interested in confrontation with Iran and is committed to a settlement: “We continue to maintain trusting contacts with Israel and receive signals from the Israeli leadership asking to convey to our Iranian friends that Israel is committed to a further settlement and is not interested in any kind of confrontation.”

            Reply ↓
      2. Polar Socialist

        The source is besides a press release with a direct quote by Kremlin, a bunch of journalist present when Putin made that statement to Central Asian leaders during second Russia – Central Asia summit in Dushanbe yesterday.

        The context was Russia being a stabilizing and peaceful force in Central Asia and close proximity (read: West Asia).

        Reply ↓
        1. ChrisFromGA

          Thanks. I had some “Twitter/X” posts in my feed with the same claim, but none of them cited any source, at least a reputable one.

          I really worry about Putin. I think he has a huge blind spot – his desire to be seen as a “good guy”. It is quite possible Israel is feeding him false info and using him as a stooge. That is a material risk he should have at least considered.

          He ought to know better, but this is the same guy who doesn’t get it that the West hates Russians, will never accept them as equals, and wants to destroy his government and replace it with a compliant stooge regime.

          The rulers of all NATO countries will never see Putin as a “good guy.” It doesn’t matter if he stabilizes Central Asia, brings peace to India/Pakistan, or drops out of politics and becomes a monk.

          Putin could save 1000 kittens from being runover by a steamroller, and the headline in the west would be, “Putin blocks road construction in vital artery, imperiling delivery of food to needy chil’ren!”

          In other words, he has lost the plot and needs to step down for the good of Russia as he is no longer the right man for the job.

          Reply ↓
          1. urdsama

            “In other words, he has lost the plot and needs to step down for the good of Russia as he is no longer the right man for the job.”

            Based on what exactly? I doubt any of us could make such a claim with any real backing. Saying that about Trump would be easy. Putin? Not so much.

            Reply ↓
            1. Basil

              Based on desires of people sitting in the USA, of course. No one can read Putin better than people that can’t read Cyrillic.

              Reply ↓
          2. Mikel

            I’ve noticed this:
            People pointing out all the reasons Russia (and China) have for helping Iran.

            Anybody asking if Russia or China has any real desire for Iran to “demolish” Israel – as people keep saying Iran has the ability to do?

            Saying Iran should be able to defend itself and helping is a different calculation than the second question.

            Reply ↓
          3. bertl

            The Russians control the plot. They pass a message from Israel to Iran in good faith. Israel and the US will act in breech of faith. The US has placed itself in a series of positions in which it ends up fighting on five fronts, and the Russian people are looking less kindly towards Israel as they remember the Nazi genocide of Russian citizens and POWs.

            Reply ↓
    2. ambrit

      Expect the attack on Iran to happen very soon. This is an example of, “don’t believe something until it has been officially denied.”

      Reply ↓
  7. Louis Fyne

    >>>building a lot of subways….

    the problems that the article mentions were just as true and apparent before the NYC/MTA Second Av subway was even built—and that took decades and still isn’t complete.

    Silicon Valley has been on the map for 50+ years; and still no BART connection.

    Even in blue-state (ostensibly pro-transit) supermajorities, it’s a train wreck to get any major infrastructure done—road, train, port. Many similarities to Pentagon procurement

    Reply ↓
  8. The Rev Kev

    “McKinsey wonders how to sell AI apps with no measurable benefits”

    Looks like the results in and AI proves to be yet another iteration of “vapourware.” McKinsey are doing the numbers and it looks like there is little gain to be had from deploying it. The dreams of bosses to fire most of their workforce and replace them with AI is just not going to happen-

    https://builtin.com/hardware/vaporware

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA

      One of the main use cases seems to be mass firings of workers … which leads to a problem for the Federal reserve.

      Their mandate is to balance risks between unemployment and inflation, but how can monetary policy possibly compensate for mass unemployment due to technology adoption? With Trump packing the Fed with stooges, the captured Fed will likely go for a return of ZIRP, along with QE.

      Of course, the promise of “AI agents” could be another big fail from Silicon Valley, like the metaverse.

      Reply ↓
      1. chris

        O M F G

        That is insane. It looks and sounds so much like Dr. Hudson in those videos. But his AI avatar is shilling for Crypto and less regulation! That has to be lawsuit bait.

        What’s next? “Prof. Mark Blythe” explaining to his followers online that, actually, low lying beaches are an ideal investment opportunity right now?

        Reply ↓
        1. ChrisFromGA

          How about Kamala Harris in the Oval Office, launching a war with Russia while cackling?

          I find it ironic that the AI pimps push productivity as a potential perk, yet these time-wasting apps and garbage videos have the proclivity to turn us all into un-productive primates, staring at our phones for hours.

          Reply ↓
          1. .Tom

            To be fair, I have no time left in the day for time-wasting apps, garbage videos, or even productive activities after reading NC.

            Reply ↓
      3. lyman alpha blob

        I don’t understand why this is not illegal. But this is what you get when you allow a bunch of elderly, out of touch, sclerotic and venal assclowns to set policy. Same reason the ride share and short term rental companies were allowed to run roughshod over the laws.

        Reply ↓
        1. leaf

          The origin of this problem probably lies with the fact that the administration, especially Trump, loves this AI slop. Trump will regularly post AI generated images and videos on to his Truth Social thing and it just seems like his voter base seems to love this stuff as well

          Reply ↓
          1. lyman alpha blob

            I guess Mencken was correct – nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. People who really should know better seem to love this slop. Can’t find it right now, but someone yesterday posted a link here about Deloitte & Touche getting busted for producing an expensive report full of AI hallucinations.

            All of this is an abomination designed so that nobody will ever believe anything any longer, which suits certain elites just fine.

            Reply ↓
            1. pjay

              I think your last point is crucial. William Casey’s alleged quote needs to be modified. Disinformation is not necessarily complete when everything people believe is false; false beliefs can be countered with facts. Rather, it is compete when technology renders all traditional evidence obsolete – pictures, video, audio, printed or digital records, etc. – so that people can no longer determine what to believe about anything.

              Reply ↓
            2. Polar Socialist

              Perhaps the Gartner Hype Cycle does exists and people who really should know better have figured out how to cash it in, after all.

              Reply ↓
    3. ilsm

      Informed humans must thoroughly check all AI. The AI’s probabilistic suppositions roll up making big errors.

      Medical insurers that use AI deny too many claims; almost 100% denials are reversed!

      Costs more than benefit, not considering adoption miscues, faults and fails.

      Would you trust a seller using AI?

      Too err is human, to really mess up apply AI.

      Reply ↓
    4. Jonhoops

      Considering that all McKinsey does is publish BS reports filled with dodgy charts and stats, perhaps the best use of AI is to replace crap consultant firms like McKinsey. I mean a single highschool student can now do the work of that entire firm in a few minutes.

      Reply ↓
  9. TomDority

    “Strategic Ambiguity”
    That looks like a great new term or not.
    Trumps peace plan looks to make President Donald Trump’s “Gaza Riviera” vision a reality.
    Of course, he will encourage Palestinians to stay because he is going to build them a better place to stay…..and insure his dominion in the areas to rebuild by putting himself in charge of contracts to rebuild…profits profits and with protection provided by the US troops standing by as human shields.
    So, as it works here in the USA, If your a Palestinian,(or whatever nationality, ethnicity or political bent in disfavor) you will not be afforded work, discriminated against, generally be unable to afford shelter or food in your area and, generally be declared a criminal, an animal, an other, them, they all, a terrorist etal. ect.
    So for the people in Gaza, what changes is they may get food and water and a ‘choice’ to stay or self-deport….,.but, because they will have to pay (speculating) some sort of reparations – they will be forced to give up any claims upon the bombed and bulldozed lands/ruins where a great number of their genocided family members lay buried, crushed, burned, obliterated and obliviated for all history.
    Well, I sincerely do hope for peace in the many places private profits motivate the many disruptions to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

    Reply ↓
      1. thrombus

        The only ambiguous thing about Blinken is the choice of guitar for the next gig. Everything else is easily predictable (which is why Putin preferred that administration to one of the capricious professional wrestler covered in gold).

        Reply ↓
  10. Ksum Nole

    Ahead of plenum, party mouthpiece likens China’s economy to ‘unsinkable’ aircraft carrier South China Morning Post

    “unsinkable aircraft carrier” – airport

    “unsinkable, unbreakable and indestructible – undaunted by wind or rain, pressing forward relentlessly” – Titanic

    These phrases look too western to me. Maybe it’s retaliation for Trump
    stealing “paper tiger” from them.

    Reply ↓
  11. Donaldo

    Amazon to start offering prescription drugs through vending machines CBS News

    They should put them next to ammunition vending machines, for convenience.

    Reply ↓
      1. Jokerstein

        I worked on those lockers. The physical security is crap. A $5 wrecking bar will open a locker door in 2 seconds, tops. Get a minibus with a gang of openers, and a couple of heavies to avoid interference, and the all slots in the locker are empty in less than a minute.

        Reply ↓
  12. tegnost

    Am I wrong to look at silver and gold charts and think WTAF?
    Doesn’t seem like a sign of strength…
    I’ll take flyer on silver again(bought at 30, sold at 30 a decade later) when it goes below 10 bucks and not a moment sooner…and then it will only be because it has a good feel and makes nice sounds when you clink it together…

    Reply ↓
      1. alrhundi

        You can buy almost 70 barrels of oil per ounce of gold, up from 16 in September 2022.

        You could buy 89 barrels per ounce April 2020 right after the COVID crash which spiked from 25 in November 2019.

        2008 crash saw 6.64 barrels in June 2008 to 22 barrels in Jan 2009

        Reply ↓
        1. Wukchumni

          I’ve never bought a barrel of oil, but have bought lots of gallons worth.

          In early 1971 you could get around 100 gallons for an ounce, now it’s about 1,300 gallons.

          Reply ↓
  13. AG

    re: Germany rearmament aka “Sondervermögen

    via German Multipolar news blog

    a critical analysis

    machine-translation

    Creative accounting

    An analysis shows that the federal government is using the new “Special Fund for Infrastructure and Climate Protection” to reduce investments in the regular federal budget and thereby free up funds for other purposes. The “special fund” is thus becoming a general shadow budget. Expert politicians, including those in the opposition, are keeping quiet about this.

    KARSTEN MONTAG , 10 October 2025

    https://archive.is/lOkYE
    original German
    https://multipolar-magazin.de/artikel/kreative-buchhaltung

    Reply ↓
    1. Camelotkidd

      “Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize If He Sends Tomahawk Missiles”
      I thought it was the Onion

      Reply ↓
  15. Expat2uruguay

    As of yesterday afternoon this site no longer conforms to mobile formatting. I have already rebooted my phone. Is anyone else having this problem?

    Reply ↓
  16. Ben Panga

    Venezuela’s Maduro Offered the U.S. His Nation’s Riches to Avoid Conflict (NYT)

    Venezuelan officials, hoping to end their country’s clash with the United States, offered the Trump administration a dominant stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in discussions that lasted for months, according to multiple people close to the talks.

    The far-reaching offer remained on the table as the Trump administration called the government of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela a “narco-terror cartel,” amassed warships in the Caribbean and began blowing up boats that American officials say were carrying drugs from Venezuela.

    Under a deal discussed between a senior U.S. official and Mr. Maduro’s top aides, the Venezuelan strongman offered to open up all existing and future oil and gold projects to American companies, give preferential contracts to American businesses, reverse the flow of Venezuelan oil exports from China to the United States, and slash his country’s energy and mining contracts with Chinese, Iranian and Russian firms.

    Reply ↓
    1. lyman alpha blob

      Well isn’t that interesting. A bunch of unnamed sources claim Maduro was ready to give China the shaft and sell out to the US.

      A cynical person might think this article was a plant to weaken Venezuela by turning China and the Venezuelan people against Maduro.

      Reply ↓
    1. griffen

      Hey she’s leadership material that the national party brand can rally behind. The anointed , or apparent front runner is the born leader that all of California should support 110% ! \sarc

      Not the type of person I’d want as a governor, either a D or a R. National and state offices are replete with elected officials are good for their donors but probably less so to those they are elected to lead.

      Case in point. I am in South Carolina where the senior senator Graham will likely die before ever retiring from the office…and his last race you had the Democratic rival Jamie Harrison become an attractive candidate to rally behind and set record fund raising amounts I believe.

      Reply ↓
  18. OIFVet

    Re ‘NATO Goes Mad’

    The American Conservative simply can’t wrap its collective head around America’s culpability towards what is an otherwise correct diagnoses of NATO’s mental competency. Those devious Euros in Speedos on their 30 day holidays!

    Someday in a more rational future “American Exceptionalism” will be listed in the DSM-25. Assuming, of course, that humanity survives the all l-encompassing madness of our age.

    Reply ↓
  19. Jason Boxman

    From Evidence of clinical and brain recovery in post-COVID-19 condition: a three-year follow-up study

    Fatigue and cognitive dysfunction linked to persistent brain changes have been reported for up to two years after COVID-19. In this study, we followed the clinical, neuroimaging and fluid biomarker trajectories over three years post SARS-CoV-2 infection to evaluate potential signs and underlying factors of brain recovery.

    …

    Our study revealed an overall slow but evident clinical improvement, including improved fatigue, regular muscular strength and recovery as well as normal cognitive function without signs of systemic inflammation three years after COVID-19. Clinical improvement is reflected by a pattern of brain recovery along periventricular regions. This pattern is characterized by structural stabilization and increased connectivity starting in the brainstem as well as efficient neuronal recruitment and increased activation in the basal ganglia, with no evidence of neuronal injury. These results highlight the positive long-term recovery trajectory in post-COVID patients.

    Unfortunately, COVID is not a one-and-done, and these patients can keep getting COVID again and again. At what point is useful recovery no longer possible? Why keep rolling the dice?

    Reply ↓
  20. hamstak

    Russia to unveil new weapon soon – Putin (RT)

    Russia will soon make an announcement on a new weapon at its disposal, President Vladimir Putin has said, adding that trials have so far gone well.

    Speaking on Friday at a press conference in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, Putin said: “I think we will have the opportunity in the near future to break some news about a new weapon that we announced a long time ago.”

    No detail is provided as to the nature of the weapon. Speculate freely!

    Reply ↓
    1. NN Cassandra

      Lazy to look up its name, but there was the “cruise” missile with nuclear propulsion, which is supposed to give it practically unlimited range.

      Reply ↓
      1. Polar Socialist

        That would be Burevestnik (or 9M730 [9 for Air Force, M for missile and 730 as the actual product code]).

        Other candidates could be a:
        – Laika class submarine, or a new unnamed MIRV missile for the same, or the new “Predator-M” supercavitating torpedo/missile for the same.

        – S-550 system, a development of S-500 specialized only on ballistic missiles.

        – Mozyr, nuclear missile silo defense system (hundreds of steel balls and arrows fired in one salvo) rumored to be back in development. After successful test development frozen either due to lack of funds or high quality IR sensors.

        – Combat version of Yak-130M. UAC has been for some time pushing an armored version with radar as both light-weight drone hunter and/or ground-attack (it’s a two-seater) platform. Now two prototypes are about to begin ground trials.

        Of course, none of those are really “new”, but developments of older generations to better fill an “ecological niche”.

        Reply ↓
        1. hamstak

          A couple more possibilities to add:

          – A non-nuclear EMP device, as was suggested had been recently used in the Ukraine theater. I find this one dubious, and the remarks by a couple of commenters here that the blue glow resulting from the recorded strike may in fact have been an electrical arc caused by damage to a transformer or similar seems far more probable.

          – When Putin delivered an address immediately following the Oreshnik demonstration/test/strike last fall, he alluded to “other similar systems” — perhaps one of these similar systems is what he has just referred to.

          Of the systems mentioned between Polar Socialist and I, most of these fall in the strategic category (Yak 130M and the questionable EMP device being exceptions). Given that this announcement comes after Russia proposed an extension of the expiring START treaty, and the apparent US non-response to that proposal, something strategic sounds relevant.

          Reply ↓
        2. Lazar

          [9 for Air Force, M for missile and 730 as the actual product code]

          Cruise missile in Russian is krilataya raketa. Iskander and Kornet also have 9, and Grad rockets too.

          Reply ↓
          1. Polar Socialist

            My bad (haste is my excuse)! 9 is for Army missile systems, Air Force has it’s own coding system, not using the GRAU index. Excluding some ballistic missiles all rockets, missiles and such are under 9M designation.

            Reply ↓
    2. AG

      fwiw Andrei Martyanov:

      “(…)
      here are all reasons to suspect that the new system will come, as always, in package. The rumors about new iteration of M=13+ and 2,500 kilometer range Zircon are not just rumors and even simplest linear extrapolation allows to predict with some certainty the characteristics of upcoming weapons. Moreover, as I repeat ad nauseam–keep an eye on Russia’s Air Defense systems which already revolutionized warfare. New AD complexes with 1,000+ kilometer range against aerodynamic targets and all kinds of hypersonic and intercontinental ballistic missiles are coming with 100% certainty. So, get the bucket of pop-corn.

      Update: what is known about one of these systems–highly likely full operational capability for Petrel (Burevestnik) strategic nuclear cruise missile, and that means that Russia completed the breakthrough in nuclear propulsion technology for aerodynamic and, highly likely, space vehicles.
      (…)”

      And on similiar topic, as of ATLANTIC COUNCIL helpless demands for new gen AD –

      https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2025/10/yawn-not-again.html

      His comment

      “(…)
      I have news for all those in the Atlantic Council–not gonna work, period. The reason it is not going to work is simple–the United States lost the ability to maneuver resources long time ago–the economic and political systems do not support any kind of a dramatic scientific and industrial breakthroughs. In the Wall Street driven Military-Industrial Complex the MAIN requirement for such a maneuver cannot be satisfied–state ownership of strategic industries. No, not money, one can print or issue whatever number of dollars, it is not going to help. By far not all serious problems are solved by pouring money onto the problem. And I am not even talking about the OTHER thing where the US lost the race by a severe knockout–Air Defense. The US IS NOT competitor anymore. Unless, of course, one believes that mythical Golden Dome is capable to intercept M=13+ 3M22M (Zircon M) or M=27+ Avangard.
      (…)”

      Reply ↓
  22. Jason Boxman

    Why China Built 162 Square Miles of Solar Panels on the World’s Highest Plateau (NY Times via archive.ph)

    America can only dream of such infrastructure projects, but our elite are so consumed with carelessness, I doubt much they could conceive of such a project, except in terms of a threat to American hegemony.

    China is building an enormous network of clean energy industries on the Tibetan Plateau, the world’s highest. The intention is to harness the region’s bright sunshine, cold temperatures and sky-touching altitude to provide low-cost, renewable energy. The result is enough renewable energy to provide the plateau with nearly all of the power it needs, including for data centers used in China’s artificial intelligence development

    Reply ↓
  23. Tom Stone

    It is getting crazier by the day with no end in sight…except for an end to civil society and the everything bubble.
    I saw my first “ICE is not Cool” bumpersticker this AM.
    Stay safe and enjoy the show while it lasts.

    Reply ↓
  25. CanCyn

    With regard to increasing numbers of pedestrians being hit cars in the US (much higher than in other countries) … the author does a pretty thorough job of analyzing the stats available, age, distraction, alcohol, drugs – for both drivers and victims wherever available. They can’t pinpoint the exact cause but one assumption is the large numbers of big trucks and SUVs being driven that have poor sight lines for pedestrians. I will check what the trends are in Canada but the Ford F150 is a big seller here, I see them and many other big vehicles on our roads so am not sure that big vehicles explains this uniquely American phenomenon. A theory from the comments in the article is sloped windshields with their accompanying sloped a-bars that limit visibility. Again though, not a uniquely American thing. I just bought a new car, a Subaru Impreza, to replace my 2013 Impreza. The 2013 had a much boxier shape and way better visibility, I am extra careful in my checks for pedestrians at intersections. It is easy to miss them in the blind spots created by the a-bars.
    This trend outdated COVID by many years so it really is a bit of mystery. Anyhow, go USA!

    Reply ↓
    1. FlyoverBoy

      The trend started around 2014 but didn’t become the highest rate in the industrialized world until it surged starting in 2020.

      ‘Tis a mystery.

      Reply ↓
    2. Mikel

      “This trend outdated COVID by many years so it really is a bit of mystery. Anyhow, go USA!”
      I’ll bet it increased with more eyes on smartphones while driving.

      Reply ↓
      1. CanCyn

        Yes, the distraction thing is a bit vague in the stats. More digging to do there for sure. Drivers here in eastern Ontario sure seem distracted to me. I often notice people looking down rather than ahead. People increasingly pull out in front of me, whether from driveways or just at intersections, close enough that I have to brake (or hit them) even though I clearly have the right of way. We have a two lane county road into the nearby city of Kingston, speed limit is 80KPH (50 MPH) and people often weave over the centre line. Driving is becoming a bit of a white knuckle experience for me.
        This article caught my eye because we have had two pedestrian fatalities in my neighborhood in the past 18 months. Rural roads, no sidewalks, speed limit 60 KPH (40 MPH). One due to excessive speed, the other, the cause never appeared in the news.

        Reply ↓
    3. Jonathan King

      My current ride is a 2013 Honda Fit, bought used last year, tthat does have that sloped A-bar issue that CanCyn mentions. Took me awhile to compensate for the impaired view of pedestrians (and other cars) on my left side, but now I do it automatically, shifting my view in each instance to take in the blocked scene without having to think about it. So far, so good …. haven’t hit anyone or anything, nor have they hit me.

      Reply ↓
  26. Jason Boxman

    Trump administration begins layoffs of federal workers amid government shutdown (CNBC)

    It has begun!

    The Trump administration began laying off federal workers on Friday, the 10th day of the U.S. government shutdown, administration budget chief Russell Vought said in a social media post.

    “The RIFs have begun,” Vought wrote on X, using the acronym for “Reductions in Force.”

    The Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, soon after confirmed that “RIFs have begun and are substantial.”

    No other details of the layoffs were immediately released.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      A nice series of images in that album. With that amount of snow perhaps a hatch on the side of the roof would be an idea in case the front is completely blocked with snow.

      Reply ↓
  28. Mikel

    ‘Bluetoothing’: Blood-Sharing Drug Trend Fuels Alarming Global H.I.V. Surge – New York Times

    I’m not surprised.
    As if sharing needles wasn’t dangerous enough. I was watching a documentary about drug users and some guy used water from a public toilet for getting his fix ready.

    Reply ↓
    1. AB

      “Bluetoothing” isn’t real. It is literally impossible to get high from injecting someone’s blood since the drug would be so diluted. 1ml from a single hit of likely already diluted street heroin further diluted into 8 pints of human blood is basically nothing. No one could get high on that, but it’s been a persistent urban legend over the last decade because of tabloid scaremongering and ignorance.

      And it truly speaks to the low quality of clickbait, elite-pleasing “journalism” the NY Times engages in that they’d rather reproduce false and easily debunked claims then report on the real reasons for rates of HIV and other infectious diseases rising around the world – namely, the systematic dismantling of public health infrastructure in the wake of the COVID Pandemic. And given the very real risk of anaphylaxis from injecting someone else’s blood into yourself, HIV might be the least worry a person would have if they attempted it (which the Times is effectively encouraging by reporting it as a real thing). Truly disgusting article from a source that no one should regard as serious any longer.

      Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      ‘It is now impossible…to teach about Israel, Palestine and the ongoing genocide in elite American education institutions’

      That was always the plan.

      Reply ↓
      1. AG

        While I am still reluctant over such things as comparison with Chile 1973 (Khalidi does add we are not there yet) I wish Hedges would have asked him more about the actual history of all current events being an actual plan dating way back. There have to be some formative State Department documents or Israeli outlines from e.g. the 90s (like the new US security doctrine from 1992´s Pentagon for US foreign policy post Cold War in general) where this scheme was put down: destruction of international law by replacing it with the rules based order in the crude tradition of Austrian lawyer Georg Jellinek´s “Normative Kraft des Faktischen” – “Normative power of the factual” – of course, as often, not intended for the later purpose when devised around 1900 in his seminal “Allgemeine Staatslehre”.

        On this broader context, Noam Chomsky about R2P at the UN (2009)
        The Responsibility to Protect
        Noam Chomsky
        Text of lecture given at UN General Assembly, New York City, July 23, 2009
        https://chomsky.info/20090723/

        And this study on intern. law vs. rules-based order by John Dugard from 2022

        The choice before us: International law or a ‘rules-based international order’?
        Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2023
        https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/choice-before-us-international-law-or-a-rulesbased-international-order/7BEDE2312FDF9D6225E16988FD18BAF0

        Dugard in one small instance quotes Chatham House from 2015:
        “(…)
        According to Chatham House, America’s recent violations of international law
        have ‘cast a long shadow over America’s claim to be the principal defender of a rules-based international system’.
        (…)”

        It most likely was/is understood by all elites what the term “shadow” uttered there in reality would mean – “opportunity”. For most decades since Orwell his 1984 principles are SOP in covering up the actual intentions articulated in public discourse.

        Reply ↓
    1. skippy

      Ha I was just going to link to that Jason, but, the BBC link has no paywall – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89d4zw8704o

      First thing that came to mind was supply issues, next was how as its a fairly regulated industry due to outcomes when it goes boom, lastly as is my want the company name – Accurate Energetic Systems – just lmmao~~~~

      Sometimes I ponder if social entropy has a absurdity quotient … wellie I just had to search absurdity quotient post it just popping into my mind … and found Merle Frank over at Medium has already used it … on that note …

      https://medium.com/never-stop-writing/here-come-the-freaks-e639d6bb2768

      Wowzers … when you lose Robert Reich … wealth grab post GFC and now MAGA goes a bridge further whilst telling the screwie unwashed survival of the fittest looser ran out of door prizes mopes its in their best interests … best bit is Trump&Co are turning ICE/Police Force/National Guard[lmmao] into the new Pinkertons to protect Corp/Investor interests …

      Reply ↓
  31. Alice X

    So the day has been filled with, for the moment, some joy that Gazans are not being bombed and many are on the move again to find their area, maybe their bombed homes (they are still starving).

    What life can they find.

    My heart is so broken I can only find a slight pulse.

    Can a leopard change its spots?

    When have the Zionists ever kept their word?

    Reply ↓

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