Links 1/18/2026

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1. TimH January 18, 2026 at 7:19 am

   UK military:

   Army and navy recruitment targets have been missed every year since 2010 … the army is only ahead because its target was cut to 73,000 in 2021, the smallest size it has been since about 1714, according to National Army Museum calculations.

   Wow. And this from the Grauniad. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/26/morality-and-reality-the-key-problems-facing-uk-military-recruiters

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   1. begob January 18, 2026 at 11:22 am

      We’ll make up the numbers through local militias. Got to have boots on the ground for future Peterloo massacres.

      Reply ↓
2. flora January 18, 2026 at 7:20 am

   File under south of the border.
   Patagonia in Argentina is burning.
   From the Buenos Aires Times:
   https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/firefighters-battle-blazes-as-patagonia-wildfires-spread-to-15000-hectares.phtml

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   1. flora January 18, 2026 at 8:29 am

      From: The Left Berlin.

      The Government Cuts, Patagonia Burns

      Amid escalating wildfires, examine the government policies further fueling environmental destruction in Patagonia

      https://theleftberlin.com/the-government-cuts-patagonia-burns/

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3. Bugs January 18, 2026 at 7:26 am

   “The tallest statue in the World is in India”

   …and is absolutely hideous. I can’t believe that people make the journey there to see it. I’ve met some. Lots of love for Modi and BJP in Ahmedabad. It’s not easy to get to, being in the south of Gujarat and sort of off the usual routes.

   While it’s nominally a monument to unity for Patel’s work to bring all the states into the central government, imho the underlying sympathies of the Hindutva right for this construction are related to his role in lifting the ban on the RSS.

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4. johnnyme January 18, 2026 at 7:27 am

   Oglala Sioux president walks back claims of DHS pressure, member arrests

   The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe has walked back claims he made in a memo and press release earlier this week that immigration enforcement arrested four tribal members and that the federal government tried to extract an “immigration agreement” out of the tribe in return for information about their members’ whereabouts.

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5. flora January 18, 2026 at 7:28 am

   Jimmy Dore talks about what’s happening in Patagonia. A land grab? utube, ~13+ minutes.

   Israelis Blamed For Setting Argentina Wildfires! w/ Scott Ritter

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rcj2kJL0zk

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   1. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 2:26 pm

      You mean ANOTHER land grab.

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   2. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 2:28 pm

      If they believed the BS about all the future “abundance”, this wouldn’t be the kind of desperation on display.

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6. The Rev Kev January 18, 2026 at 7:29 am

   “In break with Trump, PM says makeup of key Gaza oversight panel ‘contradicts’ Israeli policy”

   I think that Netanyahu’s problem is that a majority of that Board are not Israelis so that they can have total control of it. Instead, it is made up of hustlers who want to make bank using the reconstruction of Gaza as their preferred method.

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   1. The Rev Kev January 18, 2026 at 8:11 am

      Meant to mention something that I came across about that Board-

      ‘US President Donald Trump wants countries to pay at least $1 billion to remain on the Gaza “Board of Peace” beyond a three-year limit, according to the text of the body’s charter obtained by multiple media outlets.

      “Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman,” the document states, according to the Times of Israel. “The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.” ‘

      https://www.rt.com/news/631096-trump-board-of-peace-seats/

      I’m sure that people will want to go on that Board out of the goodness of their hearts.

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      1. flora January 18, 2026 at 8:16 am

         Big bucks for visas, $45 bucks to let the TSA rummage through your personal info in order to fly, a billion bucks to set on a board renewable every 3 years (for another billion) …..

         The T admin is starting to look like a gigantic shakedown operation. / imo

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         1. Louis Fyne January 18, 2026 at 8:47 am

            the $45 is for REAL ID compliance (lack thereof) ….a post-9/11 law that finally is being rolled out nationwide 20+ years after bipartisan enactment.

            imperial federal and state rot is so deep that the US can’t implement a 9/11 law.

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            1. flora January 18, 2026 at 9:11 am

               You will be pleased to know the TSA accepts digital ids. (The thing everyone needs before the rollout of Central Bank Digital Currancy (CBDC) can begin. / ;)

               They’re also accepting ( I love this):
               Apple Digital ID
               Clear ID
               Google ID pass

               Really, TSA?

               (Why am I thinking the sudden, brutal ICE crackdown is designed in part to convince everyone they need a Real ID or a digital ID? )

               Anyway, here’s the TSA list of the acceptable ids:
               https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

               I like the opening warning in small print on the TSA site:

               “The list of acceptable IDs is subject to change without notice. TSA strongly encourages you check this list again before traveling, so you do not arrive at the airport without acceptable ID.”

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   2. Carolinian January 18, 2026 at 8:13 am

      The Trump administration has become one astonishing scam after another. In the old days the Mafia would bribe cops but now we have a crime Don running the entire Justice Department and FBI.

      Of course Dems like Biden and Pelosi set ample precedent, with Biden pardoning his entire family on the way out the door. As long as both sides are raking it in they have no reason to meaningfully oppose each other.

      Only a bottom up revolution can save us from elite ethical collapse.

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7. Louis Fyne January 18, 2026 at 7:32 am

   >>you can now reserve a hotel room on the Moon for $250,000

   ….you can be a chump and give an unsecured 0% loan to a start-up in return for 0% equity.

   Or maybe the company is ethical and will sequester the cash properly and not co-mingle it w/regular funds; not holding my breath

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   1. Stephen V January 18, 2026 at 9:17 am

      But with no horse to smell your fear, how can it possibly be worth that?

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   2. Ken Murphy January 18, 2026 at 1:12 pm

      I’m having a flashback to around the time my Cislunar Econosphere article was published, and I was asked for an interview by an Israeli publication. Apparently someone was selling retirements on the Moon and they wanted more info about such things.
      The thing is, there would be particular benefits for older folks on the Moon. The lower gravity makes it easier for the heart to pump blood up to the brain, at least at the start. We’ve learned from microgravity experience that the body doesn’t want to waste energy maintaining stuff it’s not using (like bones that aren’t fighting gravity). Falls would be more manageable. The air would be canned and clean. It has its attractions.
      Had I the resources I would absolutely want to go to the Moon, knowing the many, myriad risks involved. I got to experience Lunar gravity on a Zero-G flight and it was incredible. Lunar tourism will happen; probably not soon, but if humanity does decide to grow beyond this planet then the Moon will be a key stepping stone to points beyond. In my view we really need to be focused on tapping the energy and resources of our Moon, but tourism is fun to think about too.

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      1. Kouros January 18, 2026 at 3:17 pm

         In the movie Contact with Jodie Foster, the billionaire backing the search and building of the alien designed structure dies on a space station because gravity is no more…

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      2. Alice X January 18, 2026 at 4:59 pm

         My continuing fantasy is that a benign alien entity arrives and ships off our capitalist afflicters to Mars (it could be Ganymede or Titan or…). The aliens great medical acumen allows them to live out an exaggerated number of years free of health concerns, but alas for those transported, their environment is a single cell each.

         What becomes of the earthly many? The aliens have a benign intention.

         So that is what I have devolved to, because I don’t think humanity can deal with what is upon us.

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8. Quentin January 18, 2026 at 7:43 am

   I’m very reassured Naked Capitalism seems on top of the decadent luxury market for old wine and whiskey. Someone trying to increase the site’s clicks? The topic pointedly adds to the authenticity of the site’s name.

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   1. Yves Smith January 18, 2026 at 10:27 am

      It appears you are not reading Haig’s Sunday links regularly. He has a plutocratic excess feature.

      And our ads are not based on content we run. Our ads are sold in a package with other finance sites based on our demographics.

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   2. Bugs January 18, 2026 at 12:27 pm

      People actually buy this stuff to stock bars in clubs, yachts, etc. No one usually drinks it, except for perhaps the occasional interloper who knows what it really is and gets a bit. Myself having been one of those, when I circulated in a different milieu. Those days are gone for me at least.

      The Burgundy will likely be put in a cellar and cared for properly, until it can be resold or perhaps two glasses will be poured for some plutocrat chuds, who will freak out at the taste and won’t finish it, and the rest will be drunk by the sommelier once they’re gone.

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9. johnnyme January 18, 2026 at 9:12 am

   Pentagon readies 1,500 troops to possibly deploy to Minnesota, US media say

   Jan 18 (Reuters) – The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government’s deportation drive, U.S. media reported on Sunday.

   The army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the northern state escalates, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed defense officials, adding that it is not clear whether any of them will be sent.

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   1. Lefty Godot January 18, 2026 at 11:08 am

      Translation: Pentagon being ordered to incite violence so it can then claim it’s there to fight violence. Same routine as our approach overseas.

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   2. Alice X January 18, 2026 at 5:07 pm

      Preparations for the Insurrection Act (1808). It would override the Posse Comitatus Act (1878).

      Caligula has his instructees.

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10. LawnDart January 18, 2026 at 9:15 am

    Re; Doctor Says Trump Appears to Be Showing Signs of a Stroke

    I’m no doc, but I thought he was showing signs of constipation… or maybe demonic possession. Wasn’t it dementia a few weeks ago? What’ll it be next week?

    Place your bets.

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    1. ambrit January 18, 2026 at 9:39 am

       Ten quatloos on narcissistic megalomania.

       Edit; who knew that a reference to an obscure plot item from the old Star Trek would trip the dark fantastic?

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       1. Yalt January 18, 2026 at 10:41 am

          Obscure? I’m sure more than a few here have paid a visit to the Quatloos! Cyber Museum of Scams & Frauds.

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          1. ambrit January 18, 2026 at 12:39 pm

             Yikes Stripes! I had not heard of that blog before. I guess I am way behind the curve.
             When I hear Quatloos, I think of scantily dressed thralls.

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             1. amfortas January 18, 2026 at 5:21 pm

                i generally think of scantily dressed thralls without any prompting whatsoever.

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    2. Carolinian January 18, 2026 at 9:50 am

       IM Doc says White Matter disease–hardening of the arteries and poor blood flow to the brain causing nerve deterioration. Can cause slurring of speech, poor balance and other symptoms.

       Of course that doesn’t mean he didn’t also have some sort of minor stroke.

       In the movie Dave they enlist a lookalike when the president has an incapacitating stroke but now we have AI.

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       1. LawnDart January 18, 2026 at 10:41 am

          …that doesn’t mean he didn’t also have some sort of minor stroke…

          Jeeze, why’d my mind immediately turn to Epstein?

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       2. Carla January 18, 2026 at 11:02 am

          Re: “Dave” — I really liked that movie — Kevin Kline was great!

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          1. Dalepues January 18, 2026 at 1:07 pm

             Great movie! And a great cast too…with a happy ending, when the truly decent VP (Ben Kingsley) becomes President.

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       3. Lefty Godot January 18, 2026 at 11:20 am

          “Silent strokes” (or “pin strokes”) are a thing, and while they may evade notice at first I believe there is a cumulative effect of a bunch of multiple small brain areas being snuffed out over time. If the areas are not in the main sensory and motor control centers, the effects (on cognition, executive function, motivation, etc.) may be subtle. At first.

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    3. Elena January 18, 2026 at 10:21 am

       I am a retired health care professional. I don’t see signs of a stroke. I do see a neuro degenerative process and possible medication effect. I see a progressive decline over the past year which we can expect to continue.

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    4. ISL January 18, 2026 at 10:50 am

       I can assure you from direct information (from Willow – aka Buffy’s sidekick) that demons definitely can possess the demented.

       Seriously, almost everyone will have multiple health problems in their last years – sorry to inform – that is how our loving creator designed humanity (not sharks), your genes turn on you, and multiple systems start failing in a cascade that eventually medical science can no longer address.

       (I have come to the conclusion that the evolutionary reason is that to have the bad leave this mortal coil, so must the good, to it all to the next generation.)

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    5. flora January 18, 2026 at 2:39 pm

       Judge Napolitano and Prof. John Mearsheimer on T and Iran. utube, ~32+ minutes.

       Prof. John Mearsheimer : Foreign Wars, Domestic Crackdowns

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xDiEaRUsUo

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    6. flora January 18, 2026 at 4:19 pm

       On the other hand….. Did T let his guests eat cake? I bet they ate cake. From the Due Dissidence guys, for the laughs. utube, ~8+ minutes.

       Ram Horns and Furry Parties at Mar-a-Lago – w/ Rex Jones

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d5JfFD-FLc

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       1. amfortas January 18, 2026 at 5:35 pm

          yeah, the versailles furry thing,lol.
          ive seen very little actual info on all that(but i have been rather uncomfortably busy)
          “dog faced pony boys”…and girls?
          i mean, what the hell?
          my twitter feed is like a 50 clowncar pile-up, these days.
          i look at it after second cup of coffee and think: welp, these are the days of miracles and wonders, and the absolutely stupidest timeline.

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11. Victor Sciamarelli January 18, 2026 at 9:37 am

    When you view these ICE videos, it’s not merely the heavy-handed ICE tactics but I think Americans, now more than ever, sense the two-tier system of justice which is unfair and prejudiced; that’s not stable.
    We never saw agents using a battering ram to enter one of Jeffrey Epstein’s homes even though he was known as a pedophile back in 1996. There is no video of masked agents screaming orders at Larry Summers. During the 2008 financial collapse non of the bankers most responsible for causing the crisis had federal agents busting into their homes. Rather they were bailed out and which often included their bonus; and on and on.
    Moreover, Martin Luther King condemned politicians who “are more devoted to order than justice.”

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    1. ZapMan January 18, 2026 at 10:58 am

       Have you ever watched the Chapelle show skit titled “Tron Carter’s Law & Order” from 2004? It is hilarious commentary regarding exactly what you mention in your comment.

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12. The Rev Kev January 18, 2026 at 9:45 am

    “Machado vows to lead Venezuela ‘when right time comes’ ”

    Of course she will. In the fullness of time, in due course, when conditions allow, and at the appropriate juncture. When the moment is ripe. When the necessary procedures have been completed. Nothing precipitate, of course. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

    Has she offered up a Machado coin yet? Asking for a friend.

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13. ilsm January 18, 2026 at 9:58 am

    Asia Times article on USN “capacity gaps”.

    USN operating against Iran has a capability gap!

    Should USN be able to deploy 4 CSG these are totally deficient in a mission capability no one is talking about: defeat /suppression of enemy anti ship defenses.

    For a CSG to operate within aircraft range of Iran it would need huge ground based bombing to suppress anti ship fires. Seems MbS has not cooperated on letting F 15 and F 18 operate in KSA to bomb Iran missile sites.

    CSG are not capable to survive without huge preparation of the battle space by USAF and USMC land based support.

    This is not a new issue.

    US keeps building super ships that can’t survive near the Houthi, who learned a lot from months of shooting through Aegis screens,

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    1. Carolinian January 18, 2026 at 10:06 am

       That was a silly article that said more US defensive missiles needed in the region before an attack but carriers don’t fire missiles at all do they? Adding more carriers just means more missile firing ships needed to defend the carriers.

       Perhaps the problem can be solved by leaving Iran alone.

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       1. ilsm January 18, 2026 at 11:22 am

          Trump’s international handlers won’t “just leave that oil alone”!

          One CVN left the Philippines sea on Thursday…. another may be on the way from the Mediterranean area.

          More target practice for the Houthi in the Red Sea?

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    2. ISL January 18, 2026 at 11:26 am

       It was hard to understand what, other than more cash for the MICC (conflict of interest?), was being argued for – if the US did somehow revive its moribund shipbuilding industry (without asking the question why it whithered), there was no mention of where the sailors would come from – today’s Navy is decommissioning vessels due to lack of personnel.

       Given the navy’s age and thus, accelerating maintenance costs – maintenance contracts are not sexy (aka not cost plus) – the problems will grow even in the face of an avalanche of money.

       My SWAG is that Navy contractors are jealous of Air Force contractors and the F-35 cash avalanche and lust after a new cash cow (cancelling the dysfunctional littoral combat ship was such a disappointment).

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14. Carolinian January 18, 2026 at 10:00 am

    Not sure whether Construction Physics got linked up this week.

    https://www.construction-physics.com/p/the-surprisingly-long-life-of-the

    The Ukrainians allegedly found vacuum tubes in the discarded booster of the Oreshnik. It was explained that the devices persist in nuclear capable missiles because, unlike digital, they are immune to radiation. I have heard that if you have an old device that needs vacuum tubes the only place that still makes them is Russia. This info may be a bit old.

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    1. doug January 18, 2026 at 10:59 am

       I kept my old Dynaco tube stereo equipment running for a long time with Russian tubes. They worked great, and the writing on the packaging was exotic. That was a couple of decades ago, so a bit old.

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    2. TheMog January 18, 2026 at 12:55 pm

       I’m fairly sure that Russia is still one of the main sources of vacuum tubes. A lot of electric guitar and to a lesser extent, bass amplifiers still run tubes (especially the classic amps) and there aren’t many sources of replacement tubes that aren’t relabelled Russian tubes. At least at the more affordable end of the market.

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       1. marku52 January 18, 2026 at 2:56 pm

          China (of course) makes Psvanes, and others. JJ’s come from Slovakia. Old NOS USSR tubes are available off ebay.

          tube tech…….

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    3. Polar Socialist January 18, 2026 at 3:03 pm

       Not to the radiation, but to the electromagnetic pulse caused by the ionized atmosphere right after a nuclear detonation. It will induce a voltage to any electric device within range, and vacuum tubes can handle much higher voltage than solid state circuits.

       Mostly because they operate themselves at much higher voltage than solid state devices, but also because they are also voltage limiters, so for a short duration (like EMP) they can prevent the high current going trough the filament in the vacuum, while the 5-6 atomic layers of metals in a transistor gate will melt together or burn away immediately.

       It’s estimated that vacuum tubes are millions of times more resistant. The downside is the size, weight, slowness and they also create electric disturbance (so shielding is often required) themselves.

       It was quite common at some point to arm the anti-ICBM missiles with nuclear warheads, as a kinetic kill was quite unlikely, but a nuclear detonation in the vicinity would likely achieve a mission kill, if not outright destruction of the incoming warhead(s). The defense literally had only one shot, so it had to count.

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    4. amfortas January 18, 2026 at 5:47 pm

       i keep a 70’s era tube stereo for backup, when all this bluetooth enabled walmart dreck fails, finally.
       and back when, i had the foresight(or hoarder pathology) to scavenge all the tubes from myriad tvs before they went to the dump.
       many of those would work in an old guitar amp.
       2 medium sized boxes of those in my library, somewheres.

       Reply ↓
15. thump January 18, 2026 at 10:47 am

    re: Elite California college town races to stop outbreak of deadly tropical disease

    Here is a longer and much more informative article in local press:

    https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/01/13/eighth-harrison-lepto-outbreak-northwest-berkeley-bhu

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16. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 10:55 am

    Elon Musk thinks you don’t need to save for retirement in an ‘abundant’ AI and robotics forward future – mint

    Although there is the section called “Musk Matters”, I’m thinking “The Bezzle” is much more on point for this article. It’s BS tropes that not only Musk is spouting.
    All that mess comes from the “AI” grifter playbook.

    These lyin’ rats…

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    1. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 11:19 am

       “Goods and services will become close to free. It’s not as though people will be wanting in terms of goods and services. You have tens of billions of robots that will make you anything or provide any service you want for basically next to nothing,” said Musk in the interview.

       The reality expressed here: The establishment wants their slaves back. Badly. LOL. All problems for them derive from having to pay actual people to do things.

       Note that with all the alleged “abundance”, they did not say there will be no need to be a billionaire.

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       1. lyman alpha blob January 18, 2026 at 12:03 pm

          When everything costs next to nothing, expect to see nexttonothingaires controlling the show, buying up everything with their penny collections. The rest of us will, of course, have absolutely nothing, making next to nothing out of reach.

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          1. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 2:41 pm

             “Abundance”: brought to you by an establishment bought and paid for by those who don’t have a concept of “enough” .

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       2. flora January 18, 2026 at 12:32 pm

          Spinning straw into gold, eh? Another fairy tale from the mind of Musk. / ;)

          Or maybe it’s a sales pitch to the ultra wealthy who might be wondering about how to replace their servants and business owners wondering how to replace employees.

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17. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 12:08 pm

    China is becoming more sexually liberal – if you are a man – The Conversation

    “Most notably of all, the rapid growth of internet use has been hugely influential, helping to spread information about sexual behaviour.”

    The government may have strict regulations, but online porn exists in China. The p word was not mentioned once in the article as one other contributing factor. One has to wonder…

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18. steppenwolf fetchit January 18, 2026 at 12:45 pm

    The title ” Reddit Is Suddenly Obsessed With Paris Hilton Cookware ” is a pure clickbait title.
    Reddit is not obsessed. Reddit does not even care.

    It is one lonely single subreddit that is obsessed. Only one, out of the thousands of subreddits that exist.

    And having skimread the article, I wonder whether Hilton is even doing this to even attempt to make money . . . or whether she is just trying to stay marginally famous and relieve boredom.

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19. Tom Stone January 18, 2026 at 1:26 pm

    ICE agents have been told that photographing them is an act of terrorism and VP Vance has stated that their agents have absolute immunity.
    So it isn’t surprising to see them act like the STASI and I expect that they will act with increasing violence until Trump has an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act.
    At which point it will get much worse in a big hurry.
    The arrogance and stupidity are breathtaking.

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    1. flora January 18, 2026 at 2:48 pm

       Lawsuits are being filed. Minnesota judges are pushing back against ICE abusesof power and illegal arrests.

       Jan 17, 2026 12:49 PM CT
       Judge Imposes Sweeping Restrictions on the Tactics ICE Can Use Against Protesters in Minnesota

       https://time.com/7347110/ice-minneapolis-judge-arrests/

       From Politico:

       Judge limits ICE’s crowd control tactics following Minneapolis shooting

       The judge’s order prevents federal agents from arresting peaceful protesters.
       https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/16/ice-minneapolis-arrests-judge-protests-00735416

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       1. marku52 January 18, 2026 at 2:58 pm

          “Judge Taney has issued his order. Now let him enforce it…..”

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          1. flora January 18, 2026 at 4:21 pm

             Yes, there’s that historical example.

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20. AG January 18, 2026 at 1:31 pm

    re: Carl Schmitt & AfD “derangement syndrome”

    wow

    What a giant piece of propaganda garbage served to us by JACOBIN.

    I already suspected something is off when I saw that the author is “associate professor in human geography at Oxford University” – what the hell is “human geography”.

    Germans Are Reading Carl Schmitt in the Ruins of Atlanticism

    By Ian Klinke

    With Atlanticism fraying, Nazi thinker Carl Schmitt is being reread in Germany as a theorist of a world divided into power blocs, a reading that Donald Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine” is helping to underscore.
    https://jacobin.com/2026/01/germany-schmitt-afd-monroe-doctrine

    “(…)
    One thing is clear. Unlike Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s Rassemblement National (RN) or Giorgia Meloni’s government, AfD has never attempted to break with Vladimir Putin’s Russia — a state that has also been following the Schmittian rule book. Since February 2022, the AfD has consistently opposed and undermined the Ukrainian war effort. When Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Bundestag in 2024, only a handful AfD parliamentarians remained in the chamber. They have since been sidelined. AfD’s pro-Russian stance is not just rooted in the party’s East German and Russian German votership or in its shared political ground with Putinism, but also in its Schmittian respect for what it sees as Russia’s legitimate sphere of influence. (Schmitt, it should be noted, never called for Nazi Germany to invade the Soviet Union and, as a fascist who had no proverbial dog in the fight, did not pick sides in the Cold War).

    What if Germany pursued its own sphere of influence in the ruins of liberal Atlanticism, just like Russia or the United States? An order of great spaces would cast Germany as Europe’s imperial core — a Reich empowered to redraw territorial borders within its regional bloc at will, at least if one follows Schmitt to the letter. But although land grabs may be popular in Moscow, Washington, Jerusalem, and perhaps in Beijing too, they have few advocates in Germany.
    (…)”

    It seems if you happen to be a “scholar” in the humanities in Europe and it comes to Russia you develop a fascinating skill of ignoring facts that do not fit your pre-conceived fairy-tales which you purport to be serious analyses.

    “(…)
    As AfD surges ahead in the polls, it is worth reexamining what Schmitt had to say in this essay the Right now urges us to read. As always, context is crucial. Schmitt published his pamphlet between the invasion of Czechoslovakia and before the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. It therefore belongs to the geopolitics of the mature and high imperial stage of the Third Reich — not yet that of Barbarossa and Wannsee. In the 1940s, Schmitt would be superseded by even more radical ideologues inside the Nazi regime who regarded his vision of regionally ordered imperial space as an egalitarian residue that clashed with the idea of Aryan supremacy.
    (…)”

    Rrrright – because until 1940 there had been zero military buildup and German tanks and fighter planes and battleships and guns had been churned out virtually over night. And there had never been a deal on limitation of German Navy with GB in 1935 accomodating German interests. No Italo-Abyssinian War with the support of Germany and GB. No efforts to neuter USSR´s attempt to build an alliance throughout the 1930s. No Condor Legion from 1936. And no French heavy industry bosses who opted for Hitler undermining their own leftwing government appointed the same year.

    „(…)
    Any territorially revisionist agenda will run up against an obvious problem: Poland. German right-wing circles may have many disagreements with their Polish counterparts that could spark conflict between an AfD-led Germany and its eastern neighbor.
    (…)
    The AfD is, moreover, still not entirely clear on how it wants to position itself in relation to France, the other potential hegemon in continental Europe. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the French and German right went separate ways. Indeed, Le Pen’s RN kicked AfD out of the European Parliament’s Identity and Democracy grouping in 2024 after Krah spoke positively about the Waffen-SS. The issue has weighed on AfD. In recent days, Dimitrios Kisoudis, an advisor to party coleader Tino Chrupalla, has said that the answer to the question of who should be Europe’s hegemon — France or Germany — is to be found in Schmitt. (It is no mystery what the AfD’s answer would be).
    (…)“

    The author has chosen the wrong “scholarly” subject and should write fiction instead.

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21. JonnyJames January 18, 2026 at 2:43 pm

    Maybe it has been this way for awhile, but BBC.com is now pay-walled. I wouldn’t pay a penny for MI6 story-lines, I can get that for free many other places.

    Also, regarding the mental/physical health of the current geriatric emperor: while I have zero expertise in the matter, it seems obvious that the dude has not been playing with a full deck for a long time now. I have seen serious analysts openly laugh when asked questions about the emperor’s utterances and actions. It is hard not to laugh (though tragic) at the buffoonery, idiocy and irrational statements. Is kakistocracy inevitable for declining corrupt societies?

    Like the Roman emperor Commodus, he (and many of his followers) fancies himself as a god. The DT could be dressed up as Hercules and put in battle with gladiators dressed up as Maduro, Putin, etc. for entertainment.

    Are we not entertained?!

    (Commodus never got the chance to grow old, and of course was assassinated)

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22. Ignacio January 18, 2026 at 2:58 pm

    ‘Not for sale’: massive protest in Copenhagen against Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland NPR

    IMO, the Greenland thing came back as a vendetta by Trump after the Europeans boycotted his diplomatic efforts on the war in Ukraine. All the calculations made months ago by the Europeans on the US coming back to it’s senses when Trump would discover that Putin could not be trusted have failed. They were trying to be manipulative and “clever” with Trump and now they find in stupor that not only the US is not reverting to the good old days of the CW united against evil Putin but making things turn difficult for the vassals now loosing ground and credibility on the East and, very possibly, on the West. Might this vindictive attitude by Trump be closely related with senility? This is what I suspect.

    Lesson learnt? I doubt it. European leaders will remain confused and doubling down in idiocy until forcefully removed or something.

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    1. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 3:20 pm

       “Might this vindictive attitude by Trump be closely related with senility? This is what I suspect.”

       Tech bros want Greenland. Senile or not, apparently he is also there to serve.

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    2. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 5:14 pm

       Part of me thinks it is already as good as “sold” and all of this is political theatre from the bought and paid for actors (all over the world) called “representatives”.
       Because they aren’t talking about rebelling against those puppet masters.

       This malaise goes on and on as long as people can be convinced troubles can be attributed one man’s disorder.
       Then they set up the next pinata for people to whack at while the next heists are prepared.

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23. Mikel January 18, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Coming soon: We interrupt this ChatGPT session with a very special message from our sponsors – The Register

    The teeth of the snake eating its own tail.
    So predictable. No one should be surprised.

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24. Tom Stone January 18, 2026 at 4:24 pm

    I see that ICE/DHS have ordered 1.3MM rounds of ammunition and purchased between 3,500 and 4,000 rifles from Geiselle.
    Those are REALLY NICE rifles, AR15’s that will put 10 shots into .5″ or less at 100 meters, or ten shots into five inches center to center at 500 meters.
    Why ICE needs thousands of sniper rifles is an interesting question…
    And yes , I would like one, without the giggle switch.

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