Dogs protect us if we go to Hell. That’s why we worship them The Times
Where do your pumpkins come from? Illinois keeps the crown Investigate Midwest
Why is Halloween starting so much earlier each year? A business professor explain The Conversation
Cocoa prices are high: How can consumers save on Halloween candy? Yahoo! Finance
How Vampire Bats Keep From Starving Laughing Squid
Private equity spies opportunity from states’ push to secure critical minerals FT
Climate/Environment
One dead after rare tornado topples construction cranes near Paris AFP
Brazil approves oil drilling near mouth of Amazon River DW
California’s ‘zone zero’ fire rules clash with LA’s need for shade LAist
Microplastics May Be Tied to Vascular Dementia Cases, Review Finds Science Alert
A new era of treatments for microplastics is emerging. Here’s what to know. WaPo
Pandemics
Post-Pandemic COVID-19 linked with high numbers of workforce absences and exits Yale School of Public Health
Africa
Madagascar erupts, Indian Ocean power dynamics in flux The Cradle
Japan
What to expect for Japan’s economy under Sanae Takaichi, its 1st female prime minister AP
Japanese family businesses are facing a succession crisis. That is fueling a private equity boom CNBC
China?
A Troubled $140 Billion Bet on China Property Gets Even Worse Bloomberg
Forever Xi Jinping? Perhaps Not Sinocism
PLA Purges ChinaTalk. The view from Langley.
Trump Expects Taiwan on Agenda for Xi Meeting, Predicts Trade Deal Bloomberg
China’s crude oil imports from Russia rise in September despite US pressure South China Morning Post
China’s rare earth magnet exports to US plunge 29% as tensions simmer South China Morning Post
US and Australia sign critical-minerals agreement as a way to counter China ABC News
Despite US push, China poised to dominate rare earths for years Al Jazeera
Has China Put America Into the pre-WWII “Japan Trap?” Ian Welsh
Old Blighty
A tale of two chants: Why Starmer now casts even the British police as antisemitic Jonathan Cook
36 Minute Trials and No Jury – Starmer’s Fascist Mass Courts Craig Murray. From a few days ago but not to be missed.
Syraqistan
The Burden of Imprecision: on the limitation of statistics Mondoweiss
‘Guardian of animals’: Fears north Gaza’s only vet has been killed by Israel forces during truce New Arab
Gaza government says 986 aid trucks entered Gaza Strip since ceasefire, far short of agreed total Anadolu Agency
Leaked Al Jazeera Report Names 30,000 Israeli Air Force Personnel Tied to Gaza War Crimes TeleSur
One target at a time: The logic that helped Israeli liberals commit genocide 972 Magazine
Official figures show record number of Israelis emigrating abroad Anadolu Agency
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EU criticised for pausing sanctions on Israel in response to Trump Gaza efforts The Guardian
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US envoy renews threats against Lebanon as Israeli warplanes strike south The Cradle
US To Keep Troops at Ain al-Asad Air Base in Western Iraq, Reversing Withdrawal Plan Antiwar
Russia prepared to expand cooperation with Iran ‘in all areas’: Kremlin The Cradle
European Disunion
German banks push private equity funds to retail investors FT
EU plans next Russia sanctions, while current package is blocked Euractiv
Massive explosion, fire, and black smoke at oil refinery near Budapest – videos and photos Daily News Hungary.
New Not-So-Cold War
Trump’s hope for quick second summit with Putin may be stalled as pre-meeting tabled for now CNN
Media Reveals Trump’s Private ‘Inversion’ of Ukraine War Beliefs Simplicius
Britain and Poland plan treaty to deter Russia and cut migration The Times
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Desperation Row Consortium News
***
Russia, China sign off on Northern Route shipping deal to slash global freight times Intellinews
The Bering Strait Tunnel Will Likely Remain A Pipe Dream Andrew Korybko
South of the Border
Bolivia to restore US ties cut nearly two decades ago, says Paz Buenos Aires Times
Colombia Recalls Ambassador to U.S. Amid New Diplomatic Rift Over Petro-Trump Dispute TeleSur
Trump 2.0
“No Kings” Is About More Than Trump Ken Klippenstein
“No Kings” Redux: Necessary But Insufficient (and Somewhat Misdirected) Counterpunch
US appeals court lets Trump send troops to Portland USA Today
CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON HIGHLIGHTS THE ‘ANCESTORS’ IN PUSH FOR A GENERAL STRIKE Black Enterprise
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What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President ProPublica
AG PAM BONDI CLEARED THE WAY FOR ISRAEL’S FOREIGN INFLUENCE OPERATION
On her 1st day, newly appointed AG Pam Bondi, disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force, the DOJ office responsible for enforcing FARA. The change specifically limits DOJ prosecutors from criminally charging… pic.twitter.com/gm2XzkZeCZ
— GenXGirl (@GenXGirl1994) October 18, 2025
Donald Trump DEMOLISHES part of the White House to make way for his new golden ballroom Daily Mail
Weimar Republic
ICE Agents Can Now Be Arrested in Chicago Migrant Insider
Exclusive: FEMA Workers Improperly Collected Data About Politics of Disaster Victims Matt Taibbi, Racket News
Why We Must Protect Both Turning Point and Mark Bray Jonathan Turley
Police State Watch
ICE boosts weapons spending 700% Popular Information. “…there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and “guided missile warheads and explosive components.” Seems rather important.
Denver quietly signs deal with Flock to fly AI drones for police calls KUSA-TV Denver
Our Famously Free Press
Independent newspapers disappear as private investment firms take over Axios
Accelerationists
Now this is a proper novelty. pic.twitter.com/a0uRsOkwo0
— Adrian (@blagojevism) October 19, 2025
Imperial Collapse Watch
US army taps private equity groups to help fund $150bn revamp FT
How military’s ‘safe’ plan to fire munitions over Interstate 5 went off the rails with CHP cruiser hit Los Angeles Times
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Hackers Say They Have Personal Data of Thousands of NSA and Other Government Officials 404 Media
DHS Asks OpenAI to Unmask User Behind ChatGPT Prompts, Possibly the First Such Case Gizmodo
Healthcare?
The Secret Campaign to Silence Critics of a Hospital Real Estate Empire Mother Jones
Private equity takeover of hospitals led to rise in Medicare emergency patient deaths, says study The Guardian
Democrats en déshabillé
Of course the DNC is trying to torpedo his campaign:
You shouldn’t have to fight in stupid foreign wars, get injured, and watch your friends die to be lucky enough to get health care and support.@grahamformaine just gets it man. There’s no other way to say it. pic.twitter.com/ujLeQVekU6
— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) October 20, 2025
Antitrust
AWS outage exposes Achilles heel: central control plane The Register
AI
FTC Disappears Lina Khan’s Thoughts on AI Gizmodo
The legal battle over AI continues: AI artist files lawsuit seeking copyright protection Yahoo! News
Meta Employee Creates AI App That Deepfakes the Dream Vacation You Couldn’t Afford Futurism
Fashion
This man simply walked into the fashion show wearing a garbage bag – and no one thought it was strange until security found him
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) October 20, 2025
Zeitgeist Watch
Google Has a Bedbug Infestation in Its New York Offices Wired
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Re today’s Antidote du jour. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
“Why is Halloween starting so much earlier each year? A business professor explain”
LOL! I can’t say that I’ve really notice Halloween starting drastically earlier than in the past, but damn, aren’t the stores full of Christmas crap right next to the Halloween stuff and Halloween is still 10 days away! Christmas is more than 2 months away!!!
Article could have just as easily been written about Christmas, merchandise for both are put out earlier and earlier every year. I have neighbours who have had their Halloween decor up since the end of September, which morphed from their Thanksgiving display which was put up in mid-September. Their Xmas stuff will go up the first week in November. When I was a kid, we didn’t decorate for Thanksgiving, we carved a pumpkin a few days before Halloween and we put up our Christmas tree the weekend before Xmas. I guess, as with many things, follow the money is the answer, both holidays are responsible for billions of dollars spent.
We’ve had Halloween junk for sale in our stores for over a month now – and we don’t really celebrate Halloween here in Oz.
Everybody ordered their Christmas crap during a TACO break in the tariff battle a couple months ago. You don’t expect them to rent a warehouse to store all that stuff, do you?
Adam1:
It seems to me that people have to stock up on Halloween candy so that it reaches that point of staleness that is the essence of Halloween.
Circus Peanuts, there’s that level of toxicity that they have to reach for true deliciousness. (Likewise, Peeps.)
MaryJanes. If they don’t break a tooth, it isn’t Halloween.
Candy corn. No comment. Is candy corn a trick or a treat?
Capitalism isn’t undermining democracy…..
it’s the neo-feudalistic hyper-skewing of assets to one tail, caused by a bipartisan, multi-decade pro-oligarch tax policy, immigration policy, fiscal, and anti-trust policy.
Bill Clinton and W Bush saw Reaganism and said, “hold my beer”
PS, add years of negative real interest Fed rates (instead of old-fashioned fiscal stimulus—food stamps, unemployment aid, infrastructure) as the icing on the dumpster fire
>Why is Halloween starting so much earlier each year? A business professor explain
I remember working in a warehouse job in the summer to pay through school during the off term from May to August
If I remember right about June or so, we would already start picking orders to ship out for stores putting in their orders for Halloween items, wonder if it’s going to get even earlier
“Donald Trump DEMOLISHES part of the White House to make way for his new golden ballroom”
Trump knows what we is doing with this one. Everybody who is everybody in DC will want to make sure that at least one time they get to wangle an invite to the golden ballroom which Trump will be able to hold over their heads. Play ball and you get a ticket. Can you imagine how fierce the competition is going to be for the very first Inaugural Ball held there? Many will want to go there. Few will be selected.
No Kings.
Klippenstein goes to Madison, Wisconsin, and finds the crowd to be activists. Heck, it’s the Great Lakes States. It’s Wisconsin. They can smell the tear gas emanating from Chicago and Broadview, Illinois. Next, he’ll discover cheddar cheese.
Knapp goes to Gainesville, where the crowds are out of practice in this citizenship business, which means being easily misled by Democrats and liberals.
As esteemed commenter “matt” mentiond a day or so ago: Some of demonstrating is social. For many of these demonstrators, this is their first outing. They are the kinds who tend to run down demonstrating — oh, it doesn’t do anything anyway. Hmmm. Tell that to those who participated in the lunch-counter sit-ins.
As someone who has demonstrated more or less regularly for years, I can assure you that demonstrating is up there with showing up for jury duty. One does it, or one is half a citizen.
And one needs the practice, the baby steps, as matt called them. I have graduated to the point at which the contingent of members of ARCI (the Italian commie-founded association of associations, arts organizations, advocacy groups,….) decided I am reliable enough, or cranky enough, to carry an ARCI flag (and wave it around) during the May Day parade earlier this year.
There are compensations.
PS: Nevertheless, the gaping hole in No Kings is the lack of demands. I especially appreciate the demos I was at for the Global Sumud Flotilla. We offered solidarity. We shut down the street. And the dockworkers had already threatened to shut down the ports. So we *had* to have a general strike.
—USanians? Ready to give it a try?
Re: Government shutdown:
One GOP cave, coming up!
GOP leaders map out potential Obamacare extension as hard-liners warm to health talks
So, if Republicans are going to cave and give in to Democrats demands on health care, what exactly was the point of the shutdown?
“‘0% malfunction rate,’ until now: How military’s plan to fire munitions over I-5 went awry”
So if they want to show off firing those M777 howitzers, maybe it might be an idea to fire blanks?
For the guillotine watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KflMqooMzF8