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.
Those plants would require water to grow and probably the calculation was that that data center needed al the water that it could get for cooling purposes and not “waste” them on plants.
Most green features I see on buildings such as grass roofs are always yellow and shriveled. It doesn’t seem to be designed well and likely more to just score points than for function unfortunately.
Honest question: the water is used for cooling. Is it contaminated in the process, and if not, do the plants care if it’s warm? (No idea how warm it comes out, presumably not scalding.)
No, it’s not contaminated and yes, it’s probably a bit too warm for plants unless you let it cool down a bit. Rev Kev is probably thinking more of a closed cooling cycle.
Although, I must say some serious trees shading the data center would go a long way in saving in cooling costs. Or even a white rooftop with just some (natural) airflow beneath it.
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.”
Misplaced comment?
Probably a very subtle way of saying that many of the ICE Goons are ex-Chechen “separatist” fighters. Sort of like “White Russians” in Europe after the Russian Civil War. Only this bunch are amped up and ready to rumble.
Thanks for that, Flora. Kudos to Federal District Court Judge Jeffrey Bryan. He has more guts than Walz, Schumer and Jeffries combined.
Thank you, Henry Moon Pie.
While the conduct of Schumer and Jeffries regarding ICE operations in the US has indeed been shameful, I’m curious to know what you (or anyone else in the commentariat) think Walz could be (or should be) doing that wouldn’t give Trump the excuse he wants to escalate the situation further and invoke the Insurrection Act.
He could support the Minneapolis General Strike on Friday Jan 23rd.
Unfortunately, I don’t think a single-day event like this will have much of an impact.
A three month strike like the Minneapolis general strike of 1934 could potentially move the needle, but we’re quite a ways away from something like that materializing here (not to mention it could also be used as a pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act).
I’m getting tired of the state and local D politicians hiding behind the skirts of families with kids and teenagers with a part-time job at Target. It’s like the village before the arrival of the Magnificent 7.
As for escalations, tomorrow some conservative “influencer” named Jake Lang is leading a “March Against Minnesota Fraud” in Minneapolis. There are countermarchers. The Minnesota National Guard will be there. I haven’t seen reporting about where ICE will be.
Gives me something to watch this weekend since the Chiefs blew up. Sorry to be so cynical, but it’s all like watching this.
He also has more direct authority to rein in unlawful police conduct than any of them have. It says on Wikipedia that his mother is of Mexican descent, and he has been a member of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association. It’s nice to see the composition of a court’s bench reflect in some part the community’s population.
Garrison Gibson was re-arrested at a scheduled ICE check-in this morning.
Minneapolis man re-released after multiple ICE detainments, court order
‘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?
The DoJ would call the “findings” disinformation and charge the journalists and lawyers who aired the information with something like “domestic terrorism.”
We are well and truly through the looking glass.
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.
I too have a friend in the states. Moved from Toronto in the late 70’s due to harassment experienced due to his looking East Indian even tho he was born in Trinidad. I remember him commenting how he was treated there respectfully. He ended up in Oregon and married had kids, started a thriving business and still working in his late 60’s. We talked a month ago about meeting back in Ontario as I am visiting here. He expressed a strong fear if he came he wouldn’t be able to return as he retained Canadian citizenship and didn’t get American citizenship. What a world America has become. So sad.
Or… there’s a third possibility: They know darn well T would love an excuse to declare martial law and nullify Constitutional rights during the period of martial law.
I wonder if that’s the reason T and DHS are being so antagonistic in Minneapolis. Is T hoping for an incident to give an him an excuse? He sure sounds eager to invoke the Insurrection Act.
These people seem to do whatever they want, constitution be damned. The prosecution futures market is tanking due to major structural damage. Why bother with a state of emergency except maybe to cancel the upcoming midterms.
They are waiting for us to go make an alliance with them.
We need only ask them to declare independence from the rich.
I just don’t see illegal immigration being that big of an issue to bring the big guns out. They don’t want to fight ICE, but they don’t want to kill all the illegals either.
The break will come when the fight is over something the people want not what the rich neocons and Neolibs want in their bs bourgeois civil war.
#AmericanRevolution2
Limbaugh’s horrible influence is still reverberating, having poisoned the brains of generations of conservative working men. They traded in their John Wayne and Abraham Lincoln ethic of independent Americanism for new heroes: hater pundits and hater preachers.
Fox and One America News have a vise-grip on the eyeballs of the working age and retired men that are among those being screwed over by the system the most. So Renee Good was obviously a terrorist who tried to run down a brave ICE officer who defended himself is all they hear. ZH has the same unrelenting propaganda angle on the web side of things–every other headline there is spewing outrage about some new “leftist” atrocity (referring to some woke neoliberal Democrat doing a usual Democrat faux opposition performance). World War III is here, but it’s (at this stage) an information war, as much against the American people by its ruling class as against Iran or Venezuea or China. I hope foreign leaders are not believing anything that comes out of DC politicians, or the New York Times, or any of the other media Lie Factories. No matter what is being said, for example, Iran is going to get attacked in the next week or month or whatever, because that’s who Trump and the neocons around him are–like the scorpion in the fable, “I can’t help it. It’s in my nature.”
They are working for ICE now. Have you seen the YouTube/Rumble recruiting videos?
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?
“Bo admitted that pessimism about future employment prospects was one factor, but what truly crushed him was the working environment at the central SOE. In addition to attending ideological briefings and party meetings on rest days, the company also connects to employees’ personal mobile phones via data cables to scan their social media activity every week.”
Whether exaggerated or not, it’s the kind of thing some policy makers and influencers in the West think of when they talk about “competing with China”. The kind of thing certain elements give more consideration to than industrial policy.
Well, since Ai Weiwei just declared Germany to be the new China, we obviously need a new paragons of liberty and brand new “China, like, sucks” tropes.
China can and will do what they need to do. It’s their country.
Outside of that, this is a more “some people’s ideas of competing with China suck” trope.
One item not mentioned in the article is due to the combination of traditional Chinese elder support, the long enforced one child policy, and sonogram sexing of fetuses there are reportedly more than thirty million (that’s 30,000,000) more young men than young women in China. No way an ugly, short guy like me would win that lottery so I would also want to get out of Dodge in hopes of ever finding a girl.
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
Out of control because not controlled. A wink and a nod says we have your back, keep pushing. Create chaos, then comes the insurrection act. I recommend silent demonstrations. As many people as can be in the streets,not shouting, not fighting, standing and walking silently. best increasing in numbers hour by hour. Non-violence worked rather well during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Men with clubs and gas and guns dressed up like soldiers masked and trying to look menacing faced with silence. Maybe a sign or two. AND film everything.
You neglect the effects of agents provocateurs on public demonstrations. This is an age old tactic of governments against the public. Get your people to infiltrate a crowd and start a ruckus. Voila! Instant “radical caused” riot. Send in the heavy boys!
I’m sad to say this, but the only real counter to this sort of governmental strategy is a believable counter force. Why else did the Feds go to such lengths to suppress the old style Union organizers, or the Native American agitators, or the Eco-Defenders, or the Black Panthers? Each, in their own way, fielded a credible threat to the ruling elites of the time.
Silent protests are only as good as the consciences of the rulers.
Stay safe.
at your own peril, courtesy of Thucydides and Jay Gould, written in another in another pen.
Solidarity
Archive.ph is your friend, link to full article:
https://archive.ph/D5TPa
Thanks.
Doesn’t work in Italy, where .ph sites like this one are classified as child pornography.
Are there no VPNs?
then use archive.is
or install bypass-paywalls extension by magnolia1234 from gitflic.ru
As a Military Veteran, I must admit my experience is similar to this lady’s. Back in 2019 I went to a Veterans Recruitment Fair, and Intel pretty much hired me in the spot. HOWEVER, I still had to pass my background check. I feel like that was the next step after Intels welcome letter via email. I was all excited until I realized I had to pass a background check. Furthermore, because my background was too colorful, HR in Puerto Rico put a hold on my employment for a couple months. Somehow they hired me. They were the only company to hire me on the spot, so I am thankful I got to go work in their R&D Fab outside Portland.
My point is that I feel like that’s one of the perks of being an American Veteran these days – getting hired with zero effort.
Posting anonymously for obs reasons.
Vets who are here: Accenture will hire you with little friction, if you have basic qualifications for the position. There is also a background check but no credit check involved. Pay is pretty good.
“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.”
The BBC quotes the Norwegians as saying after the Machado Trump theater:
Which means, they will NEVER rescind Obama, or HENRY KISSINGER’s “Prize for Peace”.
They were dead to me long ago.
The current ridiculousness is not new. Just more of it.
The Norwegian committee admitted, with a certain sense of guilt, after the Obama fiasco that there was no mechanism to rescind the prize. That was why I was so amazed they gave it to Machado. In recent years, they have awarded it to anti Russia/Putin figures that at least had some semblance of rationality, but Machado was without any peace credentials whatsoever. It was brazenly sucking up to Trump without actually giving the prize to him which I am pretty sure they dare not for the sake of utmost ridicule, after Obama.
I sometimes wonder about the awarding of that Peace Prize. Trump really wanted it bad and was campaigning to get one for weeks with all the claims of stopping eight – or was it nine – wars in total. But it may be that behind the scenes the deep state made sure to award it to Machado instead as it suited their purposes better as regards Venezuela. Trump would just have to wait his turn.
Why can’t they create such a mechanism?
it’s worse than that. they thought they were sucking up to trump without actually yielding to his pressure but the snub made Trump so angry that he discarded machado like a used napkin. For all his flaws, he hit the nobel committee’s credibility even more than the initial award did.
… punishable by gales of laughter.
On the same day he accepted that medal the CIA were supposedly having a nice long chat with the new pres. Rodríguez.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgjn5yyeljo
So the CIA is in charge of international diplomacy now? Anything they don’t control now? Asking for a friend.
The picture with the article is from the US Capitol last week, so that part is misleading. As the kids say “pics or it didn’t happen” LOL.
Can’t say I’d ever go to the BBC for facts. The purpose is more likely convincing the public that Rodriguez is their asset (whether she is or isn’t can be debated) and get investors confidence back. But who knows…
https://archive.ph/UWf5R
A curiously anodyne report. Trump sending the CIA director to Speak to Rodriguez seems rather threatening to me. I hope she was not alone during the meeting.
Certainly when it was the CIA that tortured and then murdered her father. Still, it could have been worse. She might have had to meet with Rubio.
Helmer quotes Trump being asked if he would kidnap Putin to which he replied “not yet.”
Ha-ha!
Sure if Trump adds, “I am willing to trade NYC for such an attempt” (then a couple of Oreshniks would rid him of Mamdani. What a boon.”)
However such an endeavour of kidnapping would be about as promising as Trump winning the 100m sprint of the women finals at the Olympic Games. Either it would end with a broken ankle or a heart attack.
Of course there is this solution to any such problem:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ixX4-BmziVA
Another neoliberal false idol–the Nobel Peace Prize–gets completely shattered, it seems. I thought it couldn’t get more ludicrous after Machado was given one…but I suppose the Norwegians could completely finish the degradation by endorsing the transfer. (I suspect they’ll eventually do that, too…)
Seemed like a crass gimmick of the “opposition grifter complex” trying to con the Don…or histrionics for the no-national non-patriots in Miami…
I read koine Greek, and I know much about the Church Fathers and I know much about the early Saints of the Church. I was struck today when I saw this footage of this I guess you would call it a handover……
The pose that Trump took was almost exactly how so many of the Saints of the Church are portrayed in icons and other art work. A beatification. It was striking and it made me realize that I cannot recall ever thinking this about any other political event in my life. The medical part of me realizes that this is pure, total and complete narcissistic discharge.
And please do not get me wrong. This is not a good thing. I have found myself slightly disturbed the rest of the day. It is like a message is being sent from the god(s). I am going to have to spend some time in deep contemplation to hopefully get the answer of what the message actually is. You also have to realize in that time period of the Early Church, the Oracle at Delphi in the Temple of Apollo was fully active. The images from today were like something straight from the Oracle. We live in the most amazing of times.
They sure are not talking about it in public, but I sure do wonder if the Dems are even remotely second-guessing their nomination of a dementia patient and a dry drunk as their champions. I wonder if they think for a minute that the Lawfare approach may not have been the best according to the traditions of our country. If maybe they should have thought twice about smashing our traditions like Free Speech and forced medical treatments. I hope they are realizing that actions have consequences.
Nobel was a joke from its earliest days including the recipients.
Sartre wanted the prize money years after he had rejected the award, the physicists of the old era were assumed to be antisemitic because Lise Meitner didn´t get it (it is certainly true that one “big shot” from Sweden disliked her and behaved like an arse). And then lets just remember the huge raping scandals from a couple of years ago that had beset the literature jury where the wife endured and covered for her husband´s escapades. Speaking of Clown World – the Nobel as a completely out of this world club of pitiful posers would have long deserved such a spoof Spitting-Image-style. Or as the late German novelist Wilhelm Genazino put it: What can you expect from an award named after a man who made his fortune selling explosives.
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
Does it have her name on it? He’ll have to chisel that off.
One always remembers the snarky Oz where the Wizard gave the lion a medal to prove he wasn’t a coward.
“If I were king of the forest”
https://youtu.be/Ak3J5DayiCk?si=CtMCtRgrfnaJYCqF
Good one! Almost spilled my coffee! Keep the humor coming
Shake shake shake, shake your booty!
HEARTBROKEN Lindsey Graham assumes facts not in evidence.
What facts are not in evidence? He does look heartbroken.
I suppose there’s been no evidence he has a heart.
“First Trump-Class Battleship May Become Costliest U.S. Warship Ever”
Yeah, a $22 billion boondoggle that will see as much service as those LCSs. The hypersonic weapons and lasers that will be a part of that ship’s armament have not even been built yet. The US Navy knows how to play politics so guessed that $22 billion was a way of making Trump “happy” with the Navy. But it will take so long to build that when Trump leaves office in 2028, they will just scrap that ship on the blocks.
According to the GAO numbers it will be 40% over budget ($31 billion) and about three years behind schedule. And likely by then the contractor, or subcontractors, can’t use dollars anymore to buy the rare earth metals needed… so the price will go up even more.
But luckily, as the dollar to pound rate has… adjusted, UK can still afford to buy a few to maintain the “special relationship”.
Meanwhile, on the USS Ford front, here’s the latest:
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/nx-s1-5676229/the-uss-ford-crew-is-struggling-with-sewage-problems-on-board-the-navys-new-carrier
NPR interviewer: Seriously, how bad is it?
Guest: It’s pretty bad. According to an email from the engineering department sent in March, sailors were working 19 hours a day to track down and fix leaks. The email references 205 calls in less than four days. Toilets, which the Navy calls heads, can go down for hours in parts of the ship. Once the carrier finally left Norfolk in June, the problem seemed to have gotten worse.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford was first commissioned 1917, first deployed 2023. Largest warship ever constructed. A new, expensive ship with, unfortunately, one wee problem: Its plumbing. Should a big stink be made about this?
No, I say never underestimate the cunning of our leaders in the Department of War. There are, among others, two strategies of defense in war. One is the hedgehog strategy. The other is the skunk strategy.
With regards to the USS Ford, the latter is the one the DoW seems to have adopted. The wisdom of the skunk strategy should be obvious. Nobody disturbs a skunk. Ergo, what enemy would knowingly attack a ship filled with feces and urine? What a sh*t storm!
And so, the USS Ford sails undisturbed, to the distress only of its sailors. Mission accomplished!
“There were two gunshot wounds to Good’s right chest, one on her left forearm and one “with protruding tissue on the left side of the patient’s head” the report said. Blood was flowing out of her left ear.”
Renee Good had four gunshot wounds, Fire Department report revealsThe Minnesota Star Tribune
January 16, 2026 at 6:35AM
https://www.startribune.com/renee-nicole-good-ice-shooting-injuries-incident-report-details/601565066
Re Iran destabilization:
It seems to be getting harder for the US to maintain its “humanitarian” facade. Mainstream media started out screeching about the Iranian regime’s horrible repression of peaceful protests. But within a few days, while still leading with this story, it began to add information on casualties caused *by* protesters. Then Trump, as usual, went off script and mentioned the deaths of over 100 police in Iran. As many have pointed out, we can’t believe any conciliatory rhetoric coming out of his mouth. But as Caitlin observes, perhaps the long face of Lindsey Graham, after his orgasmic glee over a possible Iran attack last week, is a more positive sign. Hope so.
On the “humanitarian facade” front, the US apparently trotted out members of the pro-Western Iranian diaspora to propagandize at the UN Security Council. The Russian UN Ambassador seemed especially clear in denouncing the whole effort as a dangerously reckless attempt at a color revolution by the US and Israel. Joe Lauria writes about it at Consortium News:
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/16/russia-blasts-us-at-un-security-council-on-iran/
I don’t think most of the world buys our BS any more. Unfortunately, here in the US, where our media spectrum runs from Fox News to the NY Times (or Democracy Now on the “far, far left”), I doubt most people have much of a clue.
Caitlin pays more attention to Lindsey than I do. Don’t forget that Graham replaced old Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond with his secret black daughter (eventually acknowledged after Strom mellowed a bit late in a long life) and for awhile shared the stage with Adelson tool Nikki who now seems like a moderate compared to Don. Trump called Haley “Birdbrain” and now has adopted all her bomb Iran enthusiasms so if he quacks like a Birdbrain…
Dunno how we do it here in South Carolina. Our politicians can be bizarre.
The BBC was running with a story of having videos from morgues in Iran where there were hundreds of dead bodies with hideous injuries, but the videos were too horrendous to publish. The implication was that all these bodies were victims of the Iranian ‘regime’, not perhaps ordinary Iranians or police and other public authority persons killed by armed protestors. The BBC even had the nerve to invoke ‘BBC verify’, that is supposed to verify facts and debunk fakes etc. Such monumental one-sided reporting, as from Ukraine and Venezuela etc., continues to shred whatever credibility the BBC once possessed.
There was a report I read on RT that some of the Jihadists imported by Israel into Iran were doing their old tricks of beheading or setting people on fire that supported the regime.
‘Iranschluss’
“Iran Maidan” 2026 Tour
“Trump imposes 180-day deadline to counter China’s control of critical minerals”
Those strategies sound like what came out of a brainstorming session by a bunch of Trump officials. Trump may demand that allies and trade partners move away from Chinese supplies but too often there is simply no choice as in none. Too many times it can’t be done. So when the 180 days goes by he will have to issue waivers like they were confetti. Demands and threats only work when you have a winning hand, not when your country depends on another country’s resources & expertise.
re: Iran
Ok, so this is a German 2-part interview by TELEPOLIS blog.
3 Iranian exiles in Germany are commenting the events.
This is not unlike the case when reporters talk to Ukrainians who might live here and who they know personally and who then make the impression to be very representative. That is obviously a problem.
(It´s kinda sad that a wealthy society as the German seems incapable of coming up with serious data sets and analyses on how the situation in Iran really is. Anecdotal insight like this is regarded as some gold standard in public discussions.)
But fwiw:
machine-translations
part 1
Iran: Stacked corpses and a fearless youth
https://archive.is/FS5Ys
part 2
Iran: “Nobody wants the Prince of the West!”
https://archive.is/iRfjU
– “Stacked corpses and a fearless youth”
Seeing this phrase immediately reminded me of Syria. All those “staked corpses” of thousands, or even tens of thousands (!), supposedly tortured to death by the Evil Assad to justify the Caesar sanctions and our support for the “opposition,” reported with the most sympathetic humanitarian concern in the pages of our “liberal” press — NY Times, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, etc. Yeah, this is a very old tradition in the Western media. These three may well be sincere; there has certainly been brutality toward perceived threats by the Iranian regime over the years, as there was in Syria. But of course implying that the understandings of these exiles are representative of most Iranians or larger geopolitical truths is pure propaganda.
As I say, these interviewees may be expressing honest views based on their own hopes and experiences. I did appreciate their assertion, represented by the title of the second piece, that “Nobody wants the Prince of the West.” Unfortunately, their words will be used by people who want to destroy their country and don’t give a damn about the Iranian people or “democracy” – as were those of Syrians in the West with similar views.
re: Iran
From one year ago:
An English-language conversation by NACHDENKSEITEN´s Michael Holmes with historian Ervand Abrahamian
scroll down!
97 min.
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=144866
The site includes a German-translation of Vijay Prashad´s latest on Iran from Peoples Dispatch, Engl. here:
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/01/13/six-points-to-navigate-the-turmoil-in-iran/
File under: Dems behaving badly
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5691947-sinema-lawsuit-marriage-aide/
“home-wrecking hussy” was not on my Sinema bingo card.
I guess that “KS, Servant of the People” on Only Fans was the giveaway.
The health insurance CPI is apparently trash
Bad-Joke Housing CPIs, Absurd Health Insurance CPI Still Mar Today’s CPI Report, Repress Year-over-Year CPI Inflation
Third World Authoritarianism as Consequence of Progressive Failure – Sam Husseini
– “Liberals” in the US and elsewhere have been unable or unwilling to stop their governments from ousting such reformers”
A few complications that crossed my mind – akso more questions than answers:
Regarding “in the US”, the longer term issue isn’t “Trump”. The bigger conundrum for “liberals” seems more likely to be dealing with apparatchiks like M. Rubio.
(Not the only import of personal grievances).
Then the usual lobbying suspect (the most prime example but hardly the only one) highlights another conundrum for “liberals”.
Finally, I don’t know what people in one country (any country) can do about the comprador elite in another country.
Trump’s heavy-handed approach to immigration is largely responsible for the chaos. Nonetheless, Obama, aka the deporter in chief, deported more 3 million immigrants while deploying ICE and other means. Trump deported less than 1 million during his first term.
So how did we get here? Immigrants were once entitled to their day in court. They could make their case in front of a judge; not now. According to the ACLU, “The numbers are staggering: in 1995, 1,400 immigrants were subject to nonjudicial removals, representing 3 percent of total deportations. By FY 2012 that number had sharply increased to 313,000 nonjudicial removals – an all-time high.”
Nonjudicial deportations were common during Obama’s two terms. The ACLU stated, “The Obama administration has prioritized speed over fairness in the removal system, sacrificing individualized due process in the pursuit of record removal numbers.”
Americans have mixed views on the solution depending on whether an immigrant is illegal and living in the US for years or for some other reason. I don’t think there is a simple answer but showing some compassion and giving immigrants a chance to explain themselves might help.
Even if you are a worrier like me, this has to be alarming:
Covid had about a 1% fatality rate but even so it managed to decimate human society around the globe, and do damage that we are still recovering from 5 years later. Bird flu is shaping up to be 50 times worse!
It’s not obvious to me that human civilization would survive as we know it if this virus becomes widespread. We have all the knowledge and tools that we need to start attacking it right now, but of course things like invading Greenland take precedence.
This really is the worst timeline.
i have no doubt that the avian flu is bad and maybe even deadlier than covid, but i’ve heard the 50% fatality rate thrown about but it just isn’t credible. For reference, the CDC reports that there have been 71 confirmed cases in the US and 2 deaths, both among people in pre-existing conditions.
If or when the virus learns human to human transmission, I don’t see why the fatality rate would rocket up. So unless 30 more individuals from the 71 tested positive die in the coming days, I don’t know how to square the 50% scaremongering with the stats, allbethey very limited.
“Europe’s cannon fodder“:
https://swissobserver.com/de/news/swiss-referendum-civilian-service-rules/
btw: not sure why “57,000 signatures” are “staggering”, because you need at least 50’000.
For context: civilian service has only existed in Switzerland since 1996.
Civilian service workers represent cheap labor in sectors such as agriculture and the healthcare industry, why it is no wonder that the referendum can find support even among circles that are otherwise in favor of the army.
But also Priska Seiler Graf (Social Democratic Party):
“It is right that Switzerland supports the EU sanctions against Russia. This war of aggression is illegal under international law and violates Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Supporting Ukraine is a shared European responsibility. Switzerland can actively contribute: by even more actively blocking oligarchs’ funds, by making a generous contribution to aid for Ukraine, through humanitarian means, and by providing our good offices. And this includes – not exclusively, but also – indirect arms deliveries. Therefore, re-export should be permitted within a very narrow scope, based on international law.”
(Es ist richtig, dass die Schweiz die EU-Sanktionen gegen Russland mitträgt. Dieser Angriffskrieg ist völkerrechtswidrig und verletzt die territoriale Unversehrtheit der Ukraine. Die Unterstützung der Ukraine ist eine gemeinsame, europäische Aufgabe. Die Schweiz kann tatkräftig mithelfen: mit einer noch viel aktiveren Blockierung der Oligarchengelder, mit einem grosszügigen Beitrag bei der Ukraine-Hilfe, humanitär und mit unseren guten Diensten. Und es gehören– nicht nur, aber eben auch – indirekte Waffenlieferungen dazu. Die Wiederausfuhr soll darum in einem sehr engen Bereich, basierend auf dem Völkerrecht, ermöglicht werden.)
https://priskaseilergraf.ch/politik
I’m not sure how effective this kind of thing is. Of course, if you are trying to overthrow a government, having access to a national communication system of the targeted country is a big advantage. The US used this approach in many Central American coup attempts, taking over the national right wing broadcasting media.
But I think the internet works differently. It would be rather easy for hostile foreigners to inject material into a firewalled Iranian National Internet. Perhaps it would be easier for the Iranian government to track down the people who were doing this.
I would be interested to hear the experiences of Chinese people in bypassing the government’s Great Firewall.
now this is trolling:
https://x.com/Bricktop_NAFO/status/2011752596785315999
somebody bought “nazi.us” domain, and it redirects to DHS.
I’m not sure if George Carlin actually said these exact words, but reportedly he did: “The Germans lost WWII, but the Nazis won”.
“Are we the baddies?”
Or there’s the quote attributed to Soviet Field Marshal Zhukov: “We have liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it.”
I don’t see why people are so critical of Trump’s foreign policy when Washington’s relationship to our Southern neighbors is so good that the acting President of Venezuela has recently spent several nights at the White House.
Italy’s privacy watchdog, scourge of US big tech, hit by corruption probe Reuters
This could be a pre-emptive attack on the watchdog. If it was working it had to be destroyed. This is a problem with news like this. Nothing can be trusted these days. Nothing is serious and Reuters could turn to be just an instrument of certain interests… or may be not but trust cannot be granted.
Checking in with the headlines of the regime in Tel Aviv as it is Friday night, traditional start to military escapades in the region. Everything from the last couple of hours:
– Trump and Netanyahu spoke about Iran for second time in two days – report
– Reports: Israel believes Trump may still take military action against Iran
– European regulator warns airlines to avoid Iranian airspace
The flight board at Ben Gurion continues to be quiet at this time (22:15 IL time)
Has Trump demanded the money too?
The Peace prize comes with an award of $1.17MM and if the award should have rightfully gone to Trump, the money should have too.
I simply can’t Imagine the Donald would let some third world woman rip him off for $1MM and change.
And don’t forget Assange’s lawsuit against the Nobel Committee for ignoring their charter by awarding Machado the PP.
Minnesota officials discuss safety surrounding planned weekend demonstrations
The anti-immigrant march is scheduled to take place in the predominately Somalian immigrant Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and elements of the Minnesota National Guard have been mobilized.
just came across this…have no idea how believable/trustworthy:
https://x.com/nettermike/status/2009843044028428714
but i will add…many years ago, i had a couple of Eldest’s buddies doing occasional honey0do stuff, and they were the sons of one of the Jefas of the local Mexicn Mafia…good kids, dumb, stoned, but good kids.
still, my shop is open and uncloseable,lol.
so, having always been interested in such things, i bought a small sound device….a nausea field generator.
and stuck it in the shop with a key fob and wired into a motion detector from a salvaged yard light.
tried it out on myself, first.
inching into the field, and then shitting myself and running away…nothing anyone could do to resist.
then, with Eldest’s collusion, one night when those 2 were drinkin beer around the fire with him, i introduced them to it.
“El Brujo!!!”, etc.
word among the mexican mafia set around here is to avoid the powerful wizard on that dead end dirt road.
point in this digression, is that such tech exists, and you and i can buy rudimentary versions of it.
and, btw, earplugs are no defense…the effects are bodily, not aural.
hand help emp point/perimeter defense is the only countermeasure i can think of….aside from maybe giant gaussian strips at every egress point, which idk if even possible.
I can believe that that sound device was actually used but it is a one trick pony. Every major power will be prepared for it from now on. As for the rest of that story, it sounds like a Pentagon handout talking about America’s super soldiers and how it is useless to fight against them. The whole idea that you could have a whole “procession” of eight choppers flying over a nation’s capital without being interfered with tells you that some group sold out Maduro. As for contrast, remember the attack on Baghdad in the First Gulf War and how the whole sky was lit up like a Christmas tree by Iraqi anti-air?
I looked at this story and thought it should have opened with the Twighlight Zone intro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg5AAIhakoU/
BREAKING: Multiple Iranians INJURED In London – UK Police Crackdown On Anti-IRGC Protesters
The reporter keeps saying the pro-Palestine protesters get away with anything they want to in the UK – unlike this dust up with the anti-IRGC protesters presented here.🤡
DOJ investigating Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over alleged conspiracy to impede immigration agents
Recently I was thinking and writing about Google and that led me to prediction markets. For a look behind the latter’s curtain, here is a link to some brief technical observations about Polymarket.
That software presents a startling application, with public and private sides. Read about how that type of prediction market operates, then ponder the extensions to other markets or software packages. Too much dysfunction. :/
Unionism Revisited: Moldova and the Reengineering of the Post-1945 Order Roman Khimich
I was looking in the news on comments about Maria Sandu’s statements.
I have some quibbles with the article and the premise which is distorted. First and foremost, why such a big deal? Didn’t we have the reunification of west and east Germany in 1990s already? It is no difference. As for the Moldovan identity, the author doesn’t seem to know that in Romania there are twice the number of people that claim Moldavian identity first and foremost, then that of Romanian identity. I am Bihorean (from Bihor County in the Crisana region – the Three Cris Rivers Region) but I am also Romanian. My ex was from Oltenia and proud of it, but also Romanian.
This aspect is not “foreign” to peoples/countries in Europe.
As for the language Moldovan/Romanian. There are four dialects in the area: Daco-romana, Istro-romana, Megleno-romana and Aromana. Romanian is in fact the Daco-romanian dialect and has 5 “graiuri” (languages), one of which is Moldovan (mine is Ardelean). There is 100% understanding between the 5 Romanian “graiuri” (the differences reside in prononciation). When Moldovans in R of Moldova fill in their language, they have in mind the idea of “grai”. The author of the article has no understanding of these detailed issues.
Also, he mentions the following: “Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Herts region are today territories that form part of Ukraine, specifically within the Chernivtsi and Odesa regions.” Which shows that he really doesn’t know the history and the geography of the place.
Bessarabia is the name used by Romania and Romanians for the territory that was taken by Russia in 1812. Hertza and Northern Bukovina were at one point (1775) taken by Austria from the Principality of Moldova. In 1917 they all re-united with what was now Romania (Moldova and Wallachia joined and formed Romania). However, Bessarabia’s south, on the Black Sea Coast and bordering Odessa Oblast were taken from under Bessarabia and shoved to Ukraine after WWII. The area is called Budjeak. USSR also took Northern Bukovina and Hertza. Moldovans from Romania and thus Romania has equal rights to claim Northern Bukovina and Hertza and Budjeak as R of Moldova does in its constitution.