How to Hold the Darkness: Notes on Living Through Uncertainty The Marginalian
The Waffle: From Greek Ritual to Holy Sacrament to the Breakfast Table Pax Culinaria
Amazon is making a Fallout Shelter competition reality TV show Engadget
Climate/Environment
Scary Findings on Microplastics in Our Bodies May Be Flawed. That’s Good—and Bad. Mother Jones
it’s so over
a new meta-analysis on microplastics in food looked at ~200 studies, the first comprehensive look at ALL major food categories and found that fruits, vegetables, and grains are responsible for ~99.5% of your daily microplastic intake. not seafood
everyone assumed… pic.twitter.com/BG8Bd2lBBi
— vittorio (@IterIntellectus) January 13, 2026
Pandemics
The Price of Denial Anthony J Leonardi
Bird flu warnings are being ignored. I’ve seen this pattern before The Conversation
The Koreas
South Korea’s ex-president Yoon given 5-year jail term in first ruling over martial law Straits Times
South Korea’s Delicate Balancing Act Amid China-Japan Discord The Diplomat
Japan
Japan Caught In the Crossfire Of Trump’s Trade War Against China Japan Economy Watch
Dialogue between Kaho Miyake and Emmanuel Todd Emmanuel Todd
China?
Trump imposes 180-day deadline to counter China’s control of critical minerals Anadolu Agency
“Blockbuster” US-China soybean deal update: some good news for American farmers. But mostly bad. Kevin Walmsley
Why China’s young people are choosing to leave ThinkChina
The Rise of “Donroe Doctrine” and Its Impact on China by SUN Chenghao and CHEN Xiyan ChinAffairs
India
U.S.-India Insight: Beyond Optics: India’s New Strategic-Commercial Linkages Center for Strategic & International Studies
Equality is not the enemy of growth – oligarchy is Indian Express
Syraqistan
Israel is Expanding Its Death Zone in Gaza by Shifting the Yellow Line that was Supposed to Protect the Survivors of the Genocide Truth & Balance
Winter Cold and Collapsing Buildings Kill Palestinians in Gaza as Israel Blocks Shelter Supplies Drop Site
***
Trump Balks at Bombing Iran… For Now Larry Johnson
Intention to attack confirmed.
— Skender Kajoshaj (@sHuRuLuNi) January 15, 2026
Encouraging News: Lindsey Graham Looks HEARTBROKEN About Iran Caitlin Johnstone
Iran protests appear to slow under weight of brutal crackdown The Guardian
US sanctions Khamenei aide, other Iranian officials over protest crackdown Al Jazeera
Starlink fears grip Iran regime: Has satellite internet become new battlefield? Firstpost
The Guardian is also reporting that Iran will now create a “national internet” that is more restricted than China’s. It looks like this will be the new playbook for countries that face regime change: employ advanced EW systems, then create a national internet. pic.twitter.com/ltwRrXEvnI
— Philip Pilkington (@philippilk) January 13, 2026
***
Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye defence deal in pipeline, defence production minister says Express Tribune
Africa
Critical minerals put East Africa back on Washington’s map Geeska
Blue Nile State: A tinderbox that could erupt across the region Ayin Network
Trump bombed Nigeria. Next door, he cancelled a USAID project keeping violence in check. Together But Apart
O Canada
Canada, China enter new strategic partnership, Carney says in meeting with Xi Jinping CTV News
European Disunion
EU ‘membership-lite’ plan for Ukraine spooks European capitals FT
Europe’s cannon fodder: Introduction and expansion of conscription in numerous EU countries WSWS
Italy’s privacy watchdog, scourge of US big tech, hit by corruption probe Reuters
New Not-So-Cold War
CIA/MI6 Lawfare Op Aids Ukrainian Atrocities Kit Klarenberg
SITREP 1/15/26: “Winter Break” Over? Russian Campaign Stirs Back to Life Simplicius
When will we tally the costs of Russia’s “snail offensive” in Ukraine? Edward Slavsquat
Putin: International Cooperation & Honest Partnerships Keys to World Peace Karl Sanchez
THE LAST HONEST AMERICAN GO-BETWEEN THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE KREMLIN DIED EIGHTY YEARS AGO John Helmer
***
Unionism Revisited: Moldova and the Reengineering of the Post-1945 Order Roman Khimich
Chechnya’s Kadyrov Is Reportedly Gravely Ill (Again). Here’s What We Know. Moscow Times
South of the Border
Donald Trump’s first Venezuela oil sale deal goes to megadonor’s company FT. Paywalled. Here’s a summary.
Acting President Rodríguez Announces Oil Reform as US Reports Venezuelan Crude Sales Venezuelanalysis
Why access to Venezuela’s ‘heavy’ oil is ‘tremendous’ news for US refiners Al Jazeera
How Do You Surrender to a Civilian Plane? The After-Action Report
Trump accepts Nobel medal from Venezuelan opposition leader Machado Reuters
The Trump DOJ is currently arguing in court it had to remove Maduro because illegal mining was displacing indigenous communities https://t.co/ubiDX8Znnb
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 14, 2026
Trump 2.0
Republicans vow to block Trump from seizing Greenland by force The Hill
Iceland the ’52nd state’? U.S. ambassador nominee’s comment sparks alarm Global News
GOP breaks with Trump on credit card interest rate cap proposal The Hill
Yan Xuetong: Trump’s Imperial Turn and the End of the West Sinification
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System International Organization
Third World Authoritarianism as Consequence of Progressive Failure Sam Husseini
Police State Watch
3 Children Hospitalized in Minneapolis After Family Van Hit With ICE Flash-Bangs Common Dreams
Trump Threatens to Use Insurrection Act Against Demonstrators in Minnesota Truthout
Straight Out of Project 2025: Trump’s Immigration Plan Was Clear Capital & Main
***
Richard Wolff: ICE Terror, Executive Policing, and Why a General Strike Could Flip the Script Scheerpost
How the Definition of ‘Doxxing’ Is Being Twisted Into a Weapon of Anonymity Gizmodo
***
Shadow Contractors Are Training ICE’s Attack Teams The Lever
ICE error meant some recruits were sent into field offices without proper training, sources say NBC News
Push for greater ICE training grows on some Republicans Politico
Former Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Named in Leaked ICE Documents La Voce di New York
DHS Used Neo-Nazi Anthem for Recruitment After Fatal Minneapolis ICE Shooting The Intercept
Accelerationists
Imperial Collapse Watch
Profit Realisation, Productivity and the Siphoning of System Liquidity Warwick Powell
First Trump-Class Battleship May Become Costliest U.S. Warship Ever Bloomberg
Spook Country
Healthcare?
Oops! The House sent the wrong Obamacare bill text to the Senate Regular Order by Jamie Dupree
Marrying for health insurance? The ACA cost crisis forces some drastic choices NPR
Groves of Academe
The Unholy Matrimony of UnitedHealth with the University of Minnesota is Dangerous for the Future of Health Care HEALTH CARE un-covered
Students are increasingly choosing community college or certificates over four-year degrees CNBC
AI
Abolish the senses Blood in the Machine
After AI New Left Review
Against Generative AI: Is Art the Last Refuge of Our Humanity? Lit Hub
The Bezzle
The Cult of Data Centers Boondoggle
Class Warfare
Big Medicine vs. Nurses in New York City The Economic Populist
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
>>>The Cult of Data Centers
toured a data center. constantly shaking my head afterwards that the local zoning board didn’t mandate that the developer at least put up a trellis along the concrete exteriors and plant ivy, along with a “living roof” of native grasses or some-such (eg, evergreen trees along the property line). It does have lots of fake wrought iron fencing though, lmao
I guess all those ESG points from Blackrock don’t cover ivy-covered brick.
Update on the ICE raid on the Minneapolis home. From the Associated Press (AP). utube. ~2+ minutes.
ICE raid on Minneapolis home a ‘constitutional violation,’ attorney says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDywPwB4UoI
Update: a federal judge agrees that the raid was unconstitutional. ICE did not have a warrant to enter the home.
From Minneapolis tv station Fox 9. utube, ~1+ minute.
Federal judge rules ICE arrest violated Liberian man’s rights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2YhkEyFBKQ
Good…
“Chechnya’s Kadyrov Is Reportedly Gravely Ill (Again). Here’s What We Know.”
‘Jason Willick
@jawillick
In which Trump DOJ goes full liberal internationalist, legally justifying Maduro operation as, in part, a humanitarian intervention. Striking.’
Wait, what? Claiming that ’20 million Venezuelans live in multidimensional poverty with inadequate access to…food and essential medicines’? Does the Trump DoJ really want to go there? A first year law student would prove that this was mostly the result of a whole raft of illegal sanctions imposed on that people by the US and recently leading to the deaths of over 40,000 Venezuelans. If this was being proved in a court of law, could the DoJ simply shout ‘We take that charge back!’ and get away with it?
food for thought from Tern:
https://x.com/1goodtern/status/2011872103750848687
“…Rise like lions after slumber in unvanquishable number, shake your chains to earth like dew – we are many, they are few!”-PB Shelley.
one of the most depressing things about this whole mess, is that the ammosexuals and other assorted gun nuts, who have been clinging to their AK’s to “resist tyranny”….are either silent, or all in on this.
This is what I am wondering about… which way will it go? Will the gun toting folks come out to defend against ICE or help them out? Why the silence?
And another question – are there no police officers or ICE agents who think the violence just might be unjustified? I just read a novel about Tiananmen Square, characters fictional but history factual. I was heartened to learn that many soldiers and squadrons refused to advance pretending to be bogged down in the suburbs or if they reached the square didn’t fire or fired only overhead. If soldiers in authoritarian China could refuse orders that felt immoral, surely there are few American cops who feel the same and aren’t afraid NOT to act.
I have a friend whose (Canadian) kid lives and works in the Boston area. Italian and Greek heritage, easily mistaken for Mexican or Middle Eastern in looks. He is married to an American woman and has a work visa. He either rides his bike or walks to work and is currently taking much longer to get to work as he makes sure he is not near any protests where he could mistakenly be picked up by ICE. He does have a Mass. drivers license and that and his work ID card are the only ID he carries. Scary times.
China‘s young leaving.
Thanks for the warning. There is no way I will let an IT-engineer do my plumbing. I need somebody who can actually work with their hands and tools.Practical skills.
They will also be disappointed finding out that the West is trapped in an idiocracy inflicted upon us from above. An ever more insular elite going to schools with Venezuela inflation-levels on grades and then still be recruited to well-paid positions by their social circles and then their kids go to the same grade-inflated schools learning even less because the quality of the schools are poor and they don‘t need to because daddy fixes a job anyway.
Even though I do not really doubt the content, one small warning-bell lit up and that was the guy in the article wiring cryptocurrency to Ukraine and getting punished for that. Is China really punitive against people supporting Ukraine? Is that only Western projection on how Russia-supporters are treated in the West. Is this article pure China-bashing or real stuff?
re: ICE error meant some recruits were sent into field offices without proper training, sources say. – NBC news
From the article:
A DHS spokesperson said called it a “technological snag” that was quickly rectified, impacting about 200 hires who then reported to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for full training. The spokesperson said that no candidate was placed on enforcement duties without “appropriate training and credentials.”
“The vast majority of new officers brought on during the hiring surge are experienced law enforcement officers who have already successfully completed a law enforcement academy,” the spokesperson.”
They would say that wouldn’t they.
Meanwhile, a report on the ground from Slate magazine:
You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof.
What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We’re all finding out.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/01/ice-recruitment-minneapolis-shooting.html
adding, because the the above Slate article is paywalled I’m adding this link to Jimmy Dore who breaks down the full article in the last half of this clip, beginning at about the 9 minute mark.
utube, ~19+ minutes.
Tim Dillon & Rogan RIP Into Out-Of-Control ICE Agents!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8px35N-SQ
“Trump accepts Nobel medal from Venezuelan opposition leader Machado”
Naked Capitalism really does need it’s very own Clown World segment – like Alex Christoforou has on his videos – for stories like this. What is the bet that if Trump threatened Norway enough to get his very own Nobel Peace Prize, that he would still keep Machado’s one so he would be one up on the one that Obama has.
The Nobel committee needs to work on engraving some fine print into their hardware:
“This medal was awarded to the prize winner only and may only be validly held by the winner. Any unauthorized transfer without the express written authority of the committee is null and void and punishable by 20 years in prison at the Hague.”
Trump accepts Nobel medal from Venezuelan opposition leader Machado Reuters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Booty, wanna feel my booty
Booty, baby, such a thrill, my booty
Booty, wanna touch my booty
Booty, baby, it’s too much, my booty
Booty, check it out, my booty, booty
Baby, don’t you doubt, my booty
Booty, talking about my booty, booty
Baby, checking out my booty
Listen here
Every man wants to be a macho Machado man
To have the kind of booty always in demand
Transfer of medal in the morning, go man go
Martial Law in Minnesota, ICE muscles grow
You can best believe me
He’s a Machado man
Glad he took Venezuela down, another dictator canned
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Macho, Machado man
He’s gotta be a Machado man
Macho Machado man
He’s gotta be a Machado
Macho, Machado man
He’s gotta be a Machado man
Macho Machado man
He’s gotta be a Machado
Booty, its so hot, my booty
Booty, love to look at my booty
Booty, love my framed booty
Booty, didn’t need to earn my booty
Booty, I adore my booty
Booty, put it on the wall-my booty
Booty, made by Nobel, my booty
Booty, it’s so good, my booty
You can tell a Machado man, he has a funky walk
His flag lapel pin, always look so boss
A flunky with his booty, he’s a king
Call him Mister Ego, dig his claims
You can best believe that, he’s a Machado man
Likes to be the peace leader, even though he could buy one for a few hundred grand
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho, Machado man
He’s got to be, a Machado man
Macho, Machado man
He’s got to be a Machado! (all right)
Macho Man, by the Village People
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bLRaGo-Qwc&list=RD_bLRaGo-Qwc