Pilot captures jaw-dropping northern lights show from 36,000 feet (photos) Space
Climate/Environment
N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency So Poorly Managed That State Auditor Couldn’t Determine Full Extent of Waste Inside Climate News
Whose transition is it anyway? Africa Is A Country
Water
How a billionaire’s plan to export East Texas groundwater sparked a rural uprising Grist
Japan
Takaichi’s Mistakes Regarding China Karl Sanchez
China?
Netherlands to give up control of Nexperia in China dispute DW
China’s Data Center Boom: a view from Zhangjiakou Sinocities
As China touts openness in latest policy signals, is rhetoric truly matching reality for foreign firms? Channel News Asia
Syraqistan
Israel Commits Massacre in Palestinian Refugee Camp Al Akhbar. Lebanon.
At least 25 Gazans killed, 77 injured in Israeli airstrikes despite ceasefire Anadolu Agency. Gaza.
With UN blessing, the US and Israel impose the master’s plan Aaron Mate
Why did China and Russia abstain at UNSC and sell out Palestine to the Trump peace scam? Vanessa Beeley
Damascus condemns visit by Netanyahu, top Israeli officials to southern Syria New Arab
“‘The post–9.11 Method.’” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
U.S. Mercenary Firm Tied to Notorious Aid Scheme Is Recruiting for New Gaza Deployment Drop Site
Iranian dam effectively shut down due to ongoing drought Intellinews
Dreaming the Ummah Hashiya. “Science Fiction and the Possibility of Islamofuturism.”
European Disunion
‘Worthy of Game of Thrones’: The EU Commission’s battle for control of diplomacy Le Monde
German Social Democrat leader warns of coalition risk over pensions DPA
Old Blighty
This is astonishing. The article makes plain that by “British waters” it means the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
Russian vessels, including military vessels, have every right to enter the EEZ.
British military vessels enter Russia’s EEZ all the time.https://t.co/qOZIVkW3cU— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) November 19, 2025
New Not-So-Cold War
Pentagon officials arrive in Ukraine to discuss military tech, explore peace efforts CBS News
Scoop: Trump plan asks Ukraine to cede additional territory for security guarantee Axios
Trump’s 28-Point Peace Plan for Ukraine is Dead On Arrival Larry Johnson
Kiev Coup Poker Update Gordon Hahn
Escape From Kiev Venik
Yermak must go? Events in Ukraine
Ukraine’s Corruption Scandal Might Pave The Way For Peace If It Takes Yermak Down Andrew Korybko
***
Russian S-400 Air Defences Intercept Unprecedented ATACMS Attacks: Ukrainian Launchers Located and Destroyed Military Watch
Germany says Ukraine to get long-range missiles Anadolu Agency
***
Ukraine’s Black Gold Julian Macfarlane
Chevron & Exxon Eye Lukoil’s Global Assets in High-Stakes Pivot Yahoo! Finance
Instead of using “human rights” as imperial cover like Biden, Trump uses “peace” as cover for donor-enrichment
(according to Trump Treasury’s press release, LukOil was sanctioned “as a result of Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine”) pic.twitter.com/2557KA2Wc5— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) November 19, 2025
L’affaire Epstein
Why the Epstein files won’t be released as soon as the law is passed Axios
South of the Border
Is Trump planning a covert Venezuela operation while talking to Maduro? Firstpost
The Netherlands Colonizes the Antilles for Venezuelan Oil Venezuelanalysis
Africa
Trump says he will intervene in Sudan war at Saudi leader’s request Middle East Eye
Trump 2.0
The Trump Administration Wants to Impose New Restrictions on SNAP NOTUS
Trump administration shares new moves to dismantle more of the Education Department NPR
Trump’s Data Deletions Will Make It Harder to See How His Policies Harm Children Common Dreams
Saudi crown prince seeks to burnish image with Corporate America’s top executives Reuters
“Things Happen” The Sense of an Ending
Plastic surgeons wrestle with requests for ‘Mar-a-Lago face’: ‘You’re going to look like Maleficent’ The Guardian
Democrats en déshabillé
FBI intercepts communications of Newsom administration officials, California political players Los Angeles Times
Could the Destruction of the ACA Force Democrats to Champion Medicare for All? Truthout. Ha!
Healthcare?
A record number of Americans are anxious about health care costs going into next year NBC News
How can health insurers rake in billions of dollars in profits, even when medical costs go up and more people drop their coverage?
Wendell Potter, the former VP of Cigna, exposes their scheme. pic.twitter.com/FNJDNb5lNj
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) November 18, 2025
Police State Watch
Man Detained by ICE Found Dead, Hanging With Hands and Feet Tied—Attorney Newsweek
TRIGGER WARNING: Here’s how Elevatus architects and Okland contractors — everyday Americans — talk about building a firing squad execution chamber.
“They would like a floor drain… It’s OK if they have to mop/squeegee [bodily] liquids into the drain.” pic.twitter.com/BBR6m4p0bV
— Worth Rises (@WorthRises) November 19, 2025
Mamdani
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to meet with Trump in D.C. on Friday Gothamist
This is a horrible move by Zohran Mamdani. Jessica Tisch is a fervently pro-Israel billionaire heiress, a plutocrat, nepo baby, & advocate of the surveillance state. Plus, her rich family spent piles of money trying to keep Zohran out of office. And the cops will STILL hate him. https://t.co/LW3HKb1OUA
— Ash J (@AshAgony) November 19, 2025
Our Famously Free Press
Olivia Nuzzi’s Nine Lives Discourse Blog
Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, expresses regret Kansas Reflector
Fmr Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz laments to Jewish Federation that people are finding content from “Al Jazeera and Nick Fuentes” on social media and seeing videos of “the carnage in Gaza.”
Holocaust education has backfired in part as people see Palestinians as Jews’ victims,… pic.twitter.com/YQCkjHREVP
— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) November 18, 2025
Accelerationists
Silicon Valley Can Befoul Anything, Even Death Edward Ongweso Jr.
USA Founders: ‘Natural Aristocracy’ Protects Freedom Joe Lonsdale. Aristocrat makes case for aristocracy.
Economy
You’re Not Bad At Job Hunting—30% Of Job Postings Are Fake Forbes
Mr. Market Breathes Sigh of Relief
Stock futures higher as Nvidia’s strong forecast reignites the AI trade: Live updates CNBC
AI
OpenAI strikes deal with Intuit to plug personal financial data into ChatGPT FT
Anthropic is at the heart of the latest billion-dollar circular AI investment bonanza The Register
US pumps $1B into Three Mile Island nuclear plant reboot to keep AI datacenters fed The Register
US Faces Winter Blackout Risks from Data Centers’ Power Needs Bloomberg
You May Have to Move to Minnesota to Escape the Data Center Epidemic Gizmodo
VoIP Brings Back Old-Fashioned Pay Phones to Rural Vermont IEEE Spectrum
Imperial Collapse Watch
Maryland more than doubles cost estimate on rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge AP
MAHA
RFK Jr. suggests vaccines linked to peanut allergies. What the science says. USA Today
Sports Desk
Wall Street Is Paywalling Your Kids’ Sports The Lever
Everybody Stand Down: New Yorker Columnist’s Child Doesn’t Care About Sports Gambling Defector
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Vaping Is ‘Everywhere’ in Schools—Sparking a Bathroom Surveillance Boom Wired
Class Warfare
Ontario Autoworkers Threaten Plant Takeover If GM Moves Machines Out Payday Report
How Wall Street Killed Single-Family Home Building The Economic Populist
How do you fire someone into the Sun? The Conversation
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Israel Commits Massacre in Palestinian Refugee Camp”
This headline could be true of any day over the past two years and only the location changes but in this case there is an interesting twist. So the Lebanese Army Chief actually criticized Israel for bombing his country which is kinda reasonable? Not in Washington DC-
‘A scheduled visit by Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander Rudolphe Haikal to Washington was canceled over a recent army statement condemning Israel for its violations and attacks, Lebanese media outlets reported on 18 November.
Lebanese news stations Al Jadeed TV and MTV said the US abruptly canceled all of Haikal’s meetings in Washington, adding that the Lebanese embassy also canceled the official reception.’
https://thecradle.co/articles/washington-cancels-lebanese-army-chiefs-visit-for-condemning-israeli-attacks-report
In the article DC makes all sorts of threats and demands over this guy but seriously, was he supposed to thank Israel for bombing his country? In Washington, the answer is YES.
https://x.com/hirox246/status/1991170539227066512
I believe Mr. Hiroyuki Nishimura is actually the current owner of 4Chan, which makes this extra interesting where he is going to speak with Global Times of all places as a voice for peace
What a world
Also what a polite description for the owner of 4Chan “Social Media Influencer” lol, it might have been more honest to have said imageboard administrator
“Russian S-400 Air Defences Intercept Unprecedented ATACMS Attacks: Ukrainian Launchers Located and Destroyed”
Military Watch is only giving half the story here and just says that the launchers were located and destroyed and not much more. RT gives a little bit more detail-
‘Aerial reconnaissance by the Russian Army located the ATACMS launch site in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region shortly after the attack. Two MLRS launchers were found near the village of Voloskaya Balakleya.
An Iskander-M missile crew struck the position, destroying both launchers, their ammunition, and up to ten personnel, the ministry said. It released photographs of the missile debris.’
https://www.rt.com/russia/627976-russia-counterstrikes-ukrainian-missile-launchers/
Here’s another article on the sky-rocketing estimates for replacing the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Key Bridge replacement costs soar as high as $5.2 billion, opening delayed to 2030, Maryland Matters.
I strongly doubt the bridge will be rebuilt.