Unearthing What Archaeologists Can and Cannot Know Sapiens
Nearly a third of kids can’t use books when starting school – and try to swipe them like phones Sky News
Text is king Experimental History
Climate/Environment
Post-Storm Freeze to Test US Power Grids as Demand Surges Bloomberg
This is a world map of average temperature anomalies for the entire year of 2025 compared to a baseline average for 1951-1980. Parts of the Arctic were + 15 degrees C (+ 27 degrees F) above that baseline. Parts of Antarctica were up to + 8 degrees C (+ 14 degrees F) above and… pic.twitter.com/5hAP90slHS
— Thomas Reis (@peakaustria) January 24, 2026
The big freeze Intellinews
The Koreas
US, South Korea agree to deepen cooperation on nuclear-powered subs, Seoul says Channel News Asia
China?
China’s Top General Accused of Giving Nuclear Secrets to U.S. WSJ
PLA purges intensify: Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli under investigation Sinocism
Like a Drifter, He was Born to Walk Alone China Articles
India
The Great Dispossession and the Battle for the Future of Food Countercurrents
India, EU move closer to ‘mother of all deals’ as trade talks gain urgency amid global shifts Channel News Asia
Syraqistan
The Trump ‘Board of Peace’ excludes Palestine and Resistance states while drawing in the BRICS contingent. Vanessa Beeley and Fiorella Isabel
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Leaked: MI6 Infiltrated ISIS Refugee Camps Kit Klarenberg
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How Iraq’s oil sector is emerging as battleground for Russia, US Amwaj
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Ongoing lawsuit between American and British info warfare contractors sheds light on scale of covert operations against Iran All-Source Intelligence
Meet The Single, Shady Source Behind Time Magazine’s Claim That Iran Killed 30,000 Protestors. The Dissident
US Air Force to begin Middle East exercise amid Iran tensions Al Arabiya
🤔 My guess is that they’re trying to deliver as many air defense assets into the region as possible in anticipation of having to fend off a potent Iranian strike. This, of course, strongly suggests the US plans to do something that would provoke such a strike.
If so, I think… https://t.co/Y5etA7uUpf
— Will Schryver (@imetatronink) January 25, 2026
Yemeni military media publishes a short video with one word :
” SOON ” pic.twitter.com/ONGj2pq4Wo
— Ahmed Hassan 🇾🇪 أحمد حسن زيد (@Ahmed_hassan_za) January 25, 2026
Saudi Arabia to scale back flagship NEOM project: report The New Arab
O Canada
Carney says Canada not pursuing free trade deal with China as Trump threatens 100% tariffs CNBC
Old Blighty
AI job cuts are landing hardest in UK, Morgan Stanley says The Straits Times
London sky goes grey: Soaring energy prices bring back firewood in chimneys in UK homes Firstpost
Who really rules Britain? Democracy for Sale
European Disunion
Report Says the E.U. Is Gearing Up to Weaponize Europe’s Tech Industry Against the U.S. Gizmodo
EU-US: agreement on the private data of all Europeans Il Fatto Quotidiano (translation via GeoPolitiQ)
““Fascist Battalion”: French neo-Nazis are fighting in Ukraine. Featuring SS symbols and swastika tattoos: A unit of French neo-Nazis is reportedly recruiting soldiers to fight alongside the Ukrainian army.
Using Nazi symbols, SS references, and noms d’oeuvres from the Nazi era:… pic.twitter.com/R3ktRa1ft9
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) January 24, 2026
My dear Germany, brace yourself.
A 🇺🇦branch linked to the neo-Nazi network ‘Blood & Honour’, hardened by the war with Russia and funded, indirectly, by German money, claims it is ready for a so-called ‘Reconquista,’ which they describe as ‘saving white Europe.’
They say they… pic.twitter.com/o8G7ZoWE1Q
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) January 25, 2026
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine war nearing its end? No peace deal yet, but Kyiv upbeat after trilateral talks Firstpost
AT WHAT POINT, CAPITULATION OF THE KIEV REGIME? CAN PRESIDENT TRUMP AND GENERAL GRYNKEWICH SAVE IT John Helmer
Has Russia Finally Begun Disconnecting Ukraine’s Nuclear Plants? Simplicius
Aliyev Choked on Chutzpah or Why Azerbaijan Will Have to Be Bombed Marat Khairullin
Update to the American who sailed to Russia for a woman he met online, and ended up in jail: Russian outlet Mash says the woman from Kazan barely knew him.
According to her, the 60-year-old had followed her on social media since 2022, left compliments, then got jealous in 2024… https://t.co/PBF6CT3WWw pic.twitter.com/puaJH2lwM3
— Brian McDonald (@27khv) January 25, 2026
The Great Game
CRINK encirclement: Trump efforts at a Eurasian middle belt to check Beijing, Moscow et al Intellinews
South of the Border
Resisting the Empire Next Door, Protests in Mexico Grow Truthout
Trump 2.0
The commenters won Read Max
Trump’s Energy Policy Backfires as Consumer Bills Soar OilPrice
Exclusive: In secret recordings, Cruz trashes Trump tariffs, Vance Axios
I think that the Trump administration is caught between the need to do damage control over the killings, and the upcoming mid-term elections. Part of the reason why Trump and his gestapo are doubling-down over this (despite the clear evidence from the videos), is that Trump is… https://t.co/nniw7ybHOq
— Voltage (@SpoogemanGhost) January 25, 2026
Shutdown
Second fatal Minneapolis shooting puts Congress on verge of shutdown The Hill
Democrats en déshabillé
Democrats vote to hand Trump hundreds of billions for immigration crackdown and global war WSWS. From Thursday, but should be remembered as Democrats now try to fundraise off most recent Minnesota killing.
Police State Watch
Labor Leaders Mourn Alex Prettii as General Strike Calls Build Payday Report
The People’s Weapon, Wargames, and Minnesota Escalation Un-Diplomatic
Minnesota business leaders urge leaders to de-escalate tensions in the state KEYC
Obamas call Minneapolis shooting ‘Wake‑up call,’ urging accountability and de‑escalation MEAWW. Obligatory reminder that Obama was integral in making ICE into what it is today.
Monopoly Round-Up: Why ICE Polices in Minnesota, and Not the Corporate Board Room BIG by Matt Stoller
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Border Patrol chief praises agents who killed Alex Pretti Axios
The Minnesota Department of Corrections had to release a statement calling Bovino’s claims about the target in the operation which led to the killing of Alex Pretti made up.
The guy had no serious criminal record and ICE itself seems to have released him from custody in 2018. https://t.co/wokRIk2O9F pic.twitter.com/bugTyspUY4
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) January 25, 2026
BREAKING: Judge Tostrud — a Trump appointee — has quickly granted a restraining order, barring the administration from “destroying or altering evidence” taken from today’s shooting. https://t.co/atK6MjGsQJ pic.twitter.com/RFhyMwlz2K
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 25, 2026
After HCMC employees expressed concern about an ICE detainee who was brought in with a “catastrophic” head injury, the Feds demanded employment records for all 7,000 Hennepin Healthcare employees. (From: Sahan Journal) https://t.co/aYuUj4q0pv
— Frederick Melo, Reporter/Axolotl (@FrederickMelo) January 25, 2026
The doctor who tried to treat Alex Pretti said agents were sitting around counting the number of bullet holes they put in him.
When an ICE agent shot US citizen Marimar Martinez in October, he similarly bragged in a text to fellow agents about the number of holes he put in her… https://t.co/nNbsQCDOg7
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 25, 2026
“It’s like call of duty! So cool huh?”
Trump’s goons treat shooting at and tear gassing protestors like a video game, caught on national TV on a hot mic
One even clapped after Alex Pretti was killed
abolish ICE pic.twitter.com/4y119Xbxky
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 25, 2026
In Colorado, ICE agents are leaving these cards in vehicles of people they’ve detained.
During Vietnam, American soldiers would often mark the bodies of Vietnamese they’d killed with the Ace of Spades pic.twitter.com/s9EI45Trs2
— Ali Winston (@awinston) January 25, 2026
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
‘Kill Switch’ for Cars Approved by House Republicans: Full List Newsweek
The Uniparty
House boosts military budget as Pentagon extends failed audit streak to 30 years Stephen Semler
The Golden Dome ProblemThe After-Action Report
Imperial Collapse Watch
Strategic Blindness Simon Pearce
The U.S. wants 40% of chips made onshore. But quietly, the equipment that makes those chips is moving offshore fast. This gap matters just as much as the chips themselves. (1/6) 🧵 pic.twitter.com/eFxNVy2X7k
— SemiAnalysis (@SemiAnalysis_) January 22, 2026
Accelerationists
Billionaire-backed ‘California Forever’ signs largest construction labor deal ever East Bay Times
The New Eugenics in Medicine MedPage Today
Healthcare?
Something to Take From Greenland HEALTH CARE un-covered
Economy
Markups From the Demand and the Supply Side Homo Economicus
AI
Louisville, Kentucky, joins growing number of cities bringing AI to permitting Construction Dive. What could go wrong?
Bill filed in the Florida Legislature that would hide public records of any data center being proposed in Florida. pic.twitter.com/gaZgYUt68Q
— Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) January 25, 2026
US Senator proposes bill permitting AI data centers to bypass federal power rules via off-grid energy infrastructure development Data Center Dynamics
Leidos, OpenAI deploying AI to transform federal operations PR Newswire
The Bezzle
It Turns Out Crypto’s Stablecoin Adoption is Around 1% of Previous Estimates Gizmodo
Class Warfare
Michael Parenti (1933-2026) on the ‘free market’:
‘The free market mythology argues that the most ruthless, selfish, opportunistic, greedy, calculating plunderers, applying the most heartless measures in cold blooded pursuit of corporate interests and wealth accumulation, will… https://t.co/y5cAcySpuJ pic.twitter.com/DOV8HJKCRA
— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) January 24, 2026
Are banks more dangerous than nukes? Julian MacFarlane
Tujuh Turunan: Long-Time Thinking for a Burning World Hilmar Farid
On Treasure Island, One Grocer and a Patchwork of Neighbors Keep People Fed San Francisco Public Press
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Voltage: “The mid-term elections are 8 months away, which is not allot of time if the goal is to manipulate the 2026 elections nation-wide. They have to do to all of the swing states what they are doing in Minnesota right now if they have any hope of winning the mid-terms. ”
Swing states are only for presidential years. In midterms there are close districts and close senate races, but not swing states per se. So it’s mostly a matter of localized disruption. Even in a presidential election, they just have to suppress voting in some Dem areas.
Trump is in more “trouble” than Khameini!
He and his MAGullahs portray democrats as domestic terrorists if they speak up and are in mortal danger from Trump’s untrained, radical paramilitary enforcers.
The first amendment is the issue of 2026.
Hence ICE Barbie’s demand that Minnesota hand over their electoral rolls to the Federal government. It is not hard to work out how she can indulge in such behaviour. Trump has probably shown his entire Cabinet the pardons that he has written up for every one of them and all that it needs is his signature.
Dr. Parenti’s work has been an ongoing, integral part of our program (“History as Mystery” is standard reading for our students). I met him once when I sponsored him to speak at our university and am greatly saddened by his passing. Naiwen.