Monthly Archives: January 2026

January 27, 2026

• Retro Fever: Cranking Back the Years
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/27/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• German Economists Call For Full Repatriation of Germany’s Gold Held in US Amid Colossal Loss of Trust
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• Trump Does a Soft TACO as Republicans, NRA and Law Enforcement Officers Oppose ICE Thuggery. A Gambit or a Real Climbdown?
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• Geopolitics as a Monetary Shock: The ‘Silent Tightening’ in the European Banking System Due to Sanctions Against Russia
  by Yves Smith 1:31 am

January 26, 2026

• Coffee Break: Oracle Debt and TikTok Transition Troubles Vex the Ellison Media Empire
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• Is Being Virtuous Good for You – or Just People Around You? A Study Suggests Traits Like Compassion May Support Your Own Well-Being
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/26/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Washington Reactivates ISIS 
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

• Ukraine Hoist on Its PR Petard? Bizarre Media and Official Silence Over Humanitarian Crisis From Russian Grid Attacks, Extreme Difficulty of Rebuilding
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• Blue Monday Isn’t Real, but Sadness Is – And It Plays a Vital Role in Children’s Development
  by Conor Gallagher 5:00 am

January 25, 2026

• Links 1/25/2026
  by Haig Hovaness 6:55 am

• ICE Execution in Minneapolis
  by Yves Smith 6:54 am

• The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: 101 REYKJAVÍK (2000) Run Time: 1H 24M
  by semper loquitur 6:30 am

• The US’ New National Defense Strategy Calls For A World War-Like Military Build-Up
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

January 24, 2026

• Links 1/24/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• Black Sites and Black Days
  by Yves Smith 4:01 am

• As the UN General Assembly Turns 80, Can Ordinary Citizens Change How the World Is Governed?
  by Yves Smith 2:41 am

January 23, 2026

• Coffee Break: Ancient Travelers and Artists, an Enigmatic Devonian Giant, and a Thinking Cow
  by KLG 2:00 pm

• 3 Trump Administration Health Policy Changes That Will Worsen Care for the Elderly
  by Yves Smith 10:00 am

• Links 1/23/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• UK Home Secretary’s Shocking Admission About the Emerging AI Surveillance State
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• USDA Researchers Instructed to Investigate Foreign Colleagues
  by Yves Smith 3:39 am

• AI-Induced Cultural Stagnation Is No Longer Speculation − It’s Already Happening
  by Yves Smith 3:21 am

January 22, 2026

• What Davos 2026 Can Tell Us About the World That Is Coming
  by Curro Jimenez 2:00 pm

• ICE War on Rights and Safety Continues With Policy of Illegal, Fourth Amendment-Violating Home Break-Ins, Detainee Homicide, and Detention and Transport of Children
  by Yves Smith 10:18 am

• Links 1/22/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Trump at Least for Now TACOed Over Greenland at Davos in Rambling Speech as His Poll Ratings Continue to Fall
  by Yves Smith 6:54 am

• The Great AI Displacement: Fracturing Tomorrow’s Labor Market
  by Yves Smith 3:00 am

• “Who Gets to Decide How Much Is ‘Enough’ to Live a Good Life?”
  by Yves Smith 2:28 am

January 21, 2026

• Coffee Break: Democrats Tangle Themselves on ICE and Israel
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• The World is in Water Bankruptcy, UN Scientists Report – Here’s What That Means
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/21/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Satyajit Das: President Trump’s Spat With the Federal Reserve Is Not About Central Bank Independence
  by Yves Smith 6:50 am

• Capital Dividing Lines in the New Police State. Are We Approaching Reconciliation? 
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

• ICE Called Out by Minneapolis Police for Harassing Off-Duty Officers of Color as DOJ Targets Minnesota Officials Personally with Criminal Subpoenas
  by Yves Smith 3:10 am

January 20, 2026

• Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Dangerous New Mideast Alliances
  by Haig Hovaness 2:00 pm

• NYC Is Testing Guaranteed Income for Homeless Youths. Here’s How It’s Going.
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/20/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• The (Attempted) Israelisation of Latin America
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• Europe Can Impose Costs on Trump Over Greenland, But Looks Too Craven To Try
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• Inside the Economics of Venezuela’s Elusive Oil Reserves
  by Yves Smith 5:12 am

January 19, 2026

• Coffee Break: Bari Weiss’ CBS Not an Auspicious Beginning to Total Info Control
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• Polymarket Manipulation and Other Guessing Games
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/19/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Greenland and Irrational Responses to the Crisis of Capital Accumulation 
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

• “We Are Watching Critical Thinking Disappear in Real Time” Due to AI Addiction: 40% of Kids Can’t Read, Teachers Quitting in Droves
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• ‘Could I Be in Their Cabinet?’: Big Business Eyes Up Reform
  by Conor Gallagher 4:00 am

January 18, 2026

• Links 1/18/2026
  by Haig Hovaness 6:55 am

• The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: Ballad Of Orin (1977) Run Time: 1H 58M Plus Bonus Jazz!
  by semper loquitur 6:30 am

• What Can We Do for the 250 Million and Counting Displaced by the Environmental Crisis?
  by Conor Gallagher 5:00 am

January 17, 2026

• Links 1/17/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• 1 Year Into Trump 2.0, the Social Security Administration Is in Disarray
  by Yves Smith 6:53 am

• Book Review: A Portrait of the Arctic World in Flux
  by Yves Smith 4:46 am

January 16, 2026

• Coffee Break: The President Fixes Health Care While Unfixing the Air We Breathe, Among Other Things
  by KLG 2:00 pm

• The Day of the Dollar: Is It Over?
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/16/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Why Keir Starmer’s Partial “U-Turn” on Mandatory Digital IDs Is Merely a Symbolic Victory
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• The Economist Wrecks Its Limited Credibility in Article on Dark Factories That Ignores That China Already Has a Lot of Them
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• Critics Say Trump ‘Joke Healthcare Plan’ Nothing But a ‘Con’ of the American People
  by Yves Smith 1:34 am

January 15, 2026

• A Quick Guide to the Power Restructure in the Middle East
  by Curro Jimenez 2:00 pm

• Trump’s “Fix Affordability” 10% Credit Card Interest Rate Cap: A Gimmick, Not a Solution (and It Won’t Happen Anyhow)
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/15/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• The Ever-Shrinking Eldercare Workforce
  by Yves Smith 6:54 am

• Climate Engineering Would Alter the Oceans, Reshaping Marine Life – Our New Study Examines Each Method’s Risks
  by Yves Smith 2:21 am

• How Voting Systems Influence Immigration Policy
  by Yves Smith 1:37 am

January 14, 2026

• Coffee Break: Democrats React to Minnesota on ICE
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• Move Fast and Break Everything: Crypto and the Democrats
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/14/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• Here Comes the Sun: A Way Forward if We Take It?
  by KLG 6:45 am

• Venezuelan Oil and the Limits of U.S. Refining Capacity
  by Yves Smith 5:11 am

• Greenland Is the Crown Jewel of “Fortress America”
  by Yves Smith 4:06 am

January 13, 2026

• Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – U.S. Militarism and Nuclear Proliferation
  by Haig Hovaness 2:00 pm

• Michael Hudson: Weaponizing the World’s Oil Trade is the Bedrock of the U.S. Rules-Based Order
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/13/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• The Extortionate Human Cost of US-Led Sanctions, and the Role of Western Media in Covering It Up
  by Nick Corbishley 6:43 am

• Illinois, Minnesota Sue Over Trump ICE Agents Who ‘Have Acted as Occupiers’
  by Yves Smith 5:52 am

• What Would a Trump Takeover Mean for Greenland’s Resources?
  by Yves Smith 5:31 am

January 12, 2026

• Coffee Break: Minnesota on ICE, Part One
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• Do You Want to Work Less?
  by Conor Gallagher 9:55 am

• Links 1/12/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Does Washington’s Global War Against China’s Oil Suppliers Stand Any Chance of Success?
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

• Justice Department Subpoenas the Fed, Threatens Powell with Criminal Indictment. Powell Comes out Swinging. Stock Futures Tank
  by Yves Smith 4:28 am

• “Trump’s $1.5 Trillion Gamble: Will Endless Conflict Win Midterm Votes?”
  by Yves Smith 2:29 am

January 11, 2026

• Links 1/11/2026
  by Haig Hovaness 6:55 am

• The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: One Eyed Jacks (1961) Run Time: 2H 21M And A Bonus Documentary!
  by semper loquitur 6:30 am

• Schumer, Jeffries Refuse to Join Democrats’ Growing Calls to Slash ICE Spending
  by Conor Gallagher 5:00 am

• Is an Attack by Iran Imminent?
  by Yves Smith 1:16 am

January 10, 2026

• Links 1/10/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• Rodriguez or Trump: Who Is Really Running Venezuela?
  by Yves Smith 6:05 am

• Thrift Store. Clinic. Roller Rink. New Orleans Center Becomes ‘Radical’ Lifeline Amid Homelessness, Drug Crises.
  by Yves Smith 5:00 am

January 9, 2026

• Coffee Break: Pluto’s Republic, Dietary Guidelines, Vaccine Nonsense, Ancient Poison Arrows, and Renaissance DNA
  by KLG 2:00 pm

• Portland Mayor Decries Mounting Bloodshed, Tells ICE to Get Out After Federal Agents Shoot Two
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/9/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Even the US’ Most Servile Vassal State in Latin America, Argentina, Is Determined to Keep Trading With China
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• Russia’s Second-Ever Use of the Oreshniks Was a Response to Three Recent Provocations
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• The Next Frontier of Climate Accountability: Making Big Food Pay Its Ecological Bill
  by Yves Smith 2:20 am

January 8, 2026

• The U.S.–Venezuela Coup: The Quiet Part Out Loud
  by Curro Jimenez 2:00 pm

• New York City’s MTA Explores How to Use AI to Monitor Thousands of Cameras in Transit System
  by Yves Smith 9:57 am

• Links 1/8/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Trump’s Gangsterism Escalation: Plans to Steal and Sell Venezuela Oil; Seizure of Russian And Chinese Tankers; Greenlight of Maximum Pressure Sanctions; Venezuela and Denmark Not On Board With Heists
  by Yves Smith 6:54 am

• Satyajit Das: Much Ado About Nothing – Why President Trump’s ‘Big Deals” Are No Big Deals
  by Yves Smith 3:40 am

• Is Trump Building a Massive Data Center Beneath the East Wing? If So, Why?
  by Yves Smith 1:00 am

January 7, 2026

• Coffee Break: The Tangled OpenAI and Microsoft Alliance Frayed Under Pressure
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• In ‘Unhinged’ Rant, Miller Says US Has Right to Take Over Any Country For Its Resources
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/7/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• American Hegemony by AI: The Role of Israel
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

• Why Politicians Won’t Fix Affordability
  by Yves Smith 5:27 am

• Two Decades of Chinese Industrial Subsidies
  by Yves Smith 4:33 am

January 6, 2026

• Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – U.S. War Without Boundaries
  by Haig Hovaness 2:00 pm

• With Global Attention on Venezuela, Israel Intensifies Assault on Gaza, Lebanon
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/6/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• Reopening the Veins of Latin America
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• Trump’s Greenland Threats: Will He or Won’t He Act?
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• Fed’s Standing Repo Facility (SRF) Drops to Zero, from $75 Billion on the Last Balance Sheet as Yearend Liquidity Turmoil Dissolves
  by Yves Smith 3:39 am

January 5, 2026

• Coffee Break: Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Makes Microslop Trend
  by Nat Wilson Turner 2:00 pm

• EU’s Carbon Border Tax Goes Live, Eliciting Threats from China and Perhaps Soon, the US
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/5/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• Dollar Supremacy Strategy or All-Time Grift? American AI Imperialism’s Reliance on the Middle East 
  by Conor Gallagher 6:00 am

• Even the Wall Street Journal Doubts the Trump Seize-Venezuela-Oil Scheme
  by Yves Smith 5:28 am

• West Coast Levee Failures Show Growing Risks From America’s Aging Flood Defenses
  by Conor Gallagher 5:00 am

January 4, 2026

• Links 1/4/2026
  by Haig Hovaness 6:55 am

• The Sunday Morning Movie Presents: A Child’s Garden And The Serious Sea (1991) Run Time: 1H 31M
  by semper loquitur 6:30 am

• Trump DHS Post Calling for ‘100 Million Deportations’ Suggests Intent to Kick Out Nonwhite Citizens
  by Conor Gallagher 5:00 am

January 3, 2026

• Links 1/3/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• SMRs Explained: Real-World Economics, Fuel Bottlenecks, and the Race to Scale
  by Yves Smith 5:12 am

• Screens and Social Media Are Damaging Kids’ Conversation Skills. Here’s Why This Matters, and How to Get Them Back
  by Yves Smith 4:51 am

January 2, 2026

• Coffee Break: More on Our Lousy Diet and Recovery of the Iconic American Chestnut
  by KLG 2:00 pm

• The CIA Is Manipulating Trump Against Putin
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• Links 1/2/2026
  by Conor Gallagher 6:55 am

• How Mexico More Than Tripled Its Minimum Wage in Eight Years Without Triggering the Economic Disaster Many Had Predicted
  by Nick Corbishley 6:45 am

• How China’s Overinvestment Helped Produce Africa’s Deindustrialization
  by Yves Smith 5:55 am

• There Are No Free Markets
  by Yves Smith 1:02 am

January 1, 2026

• Links 1/1/2026
  by Yves Smith 6:55 am

• Satyajit Das: Staying Alive! The Quest for Longevity
  by Yves Smith 6:03 am

• Deaths by Liposuction Still Fail to Stop Ads Promising ‘Dream Body’ With Minimal Risk
  by Yves Smith 5:32 am