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Links 4/2/2026

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Scientists Create Plant That Produces Ayahuasca, Shrooms, and Toad Psychedelics All At Once 404 Media

There was a bit of toilet trouble on NASA’s Artemis 2 mission to the moon Space.com

Chocolate Spiked with Potentially ‘Life-Threatening’ Amounts of Viagra Ingredients Recalled People

There’s a startling new plastic surgery trend. It’s called ‘rib remodeling.’ USA Today

Do Developing Countries Still Need to Industrialize? Homo Economicus

Climate/Environment

Oceans are absorbing the Earth’s excess energy. That’s bad news for food systems. Grist

IPCC: ‘Frustrating and disappointing’ meeting leaves AR7 timeline in deadlock Carbon Brief

From Lucy K:

Pandemics

Cambodian MOH Announces 3rd Human H5N1 Case of 2026 Avian Flu Diary

Water

Water-Use Restrictions Follow Snow Drought and Heat Wave in the Western U.S. Inside Climate News

Japan

Japan deploys long-range missiles in defense policy shift Semafor

Japan and Indonesia to boost energy security cooperation as concerns grow over Iran war fallout Asahi Shimbun

China?

China on AI Job Loss: “No ‘Matrix’ for us, thanks.” ChinaTalk

Panama-Flagged Ships Dominate China Detentions in Sudden March Spike The Loadstar

Syraqistan

Donald Trump’s Addled Speech on Iran Larry Johnson. Transcript.

Read the full text of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s letter to the American public Dawn

***

Risky commando plan to seize Iran’s uranium came at Trump’s request WaPo. Only requires building a runway in Iran and flying in excavation equipment.

U.A.E. Wants to Force Hormuz Open and Is Willing to Join the Fight WSJ

Houthis ready chokehold on Bab al-Mandeb if Gulf countries join Iran war Türkiye Today

Secret Codes and Yuan Fees Get Ships Through Iran’s Hormuz Tollbooth Bloomberg. Islamabad reaching out to commodity traders to see if they have vessels that could transit Hormuz while sailing under Pakistani flag.

Iran’s operational momentum persists despite US claims of capacity degradation: data TRT World

EXCLUSIVE: Israel-aligned officials supply Trump false intel on scope of Resistance Axis attacks The Cradle

The Iran War You’re Not Hearing About Ken Klippenstein

Beware the mattress London Review of Books

Old Blighty

KEIR STARMER AGREES TO DEPLOY 5000 TROOPS TO SUPPORT US COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN Ian Proud. Too plausible.

European Disunion

Trans-Atlantic rift widens as Trump lashes out at NATO allies over Mideast war AP

US expands Europe deployments with A-10s, B-52s amid war on Iran TRT World

The Emerging Franco-German Consensus on China The Asia Cable

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia Not To Supply Any Oil To Countries Imposing Price Caps Russia’s Pivot to Asia

Prison army Events in Ukraine

Trump 2.0

Kristi Noem ‘blindsided’ by cross-dressing husband who put her at risk for blackmail The Independent

DHS pauses new immigrant warehouse purchases amid review of Noem-era contracts AP

***

Trump rails against ‘stupid’ birthright citizenship after leaving Supreme Court hearing on landmark case The Independent

US counterterror officials plan Antifa summit, sources say Reuters

Congress’s political action arm drops call for injunction against Trump admin after money lands in bank All-Source Intelligence

Pentagon looking at using anti-drone lasers to protect homes of Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio: report The Independent

Democrats Suck

At DSA forum, AOC pledges not to vote for any military aid to Israel City & State NY

***

What’s Our Plan to Stop ICE From Stealing the Midterms? Labor Politics

Pelosi: ‘Be on guard’ for ‘fake count’ in midterm elections The Hill

Police State Watch

EXCLUSIVE: Exposing the FBI’s Human Experimentation Studies Racket News

ICE’s Fast-Moving Detention Strategy Finally Draws Congressional Scrutiny Project Salt Box

“Won’t be able to stop us”: Democrats, GOP both declare victory as DHS funding deal moves forward Salon

The Accelerationists

Welcome to the Technocracy Do Not Research.“The dreams of a forgotten movement from the 1930s live on.”

Habermas’s Bastards Unpopular Front

Guillotine Watch

Global super-rich may have hidden $3.55tn from tax officials, says Oxfam The Guardian

MAHA

CDC pauses dozens of types of lab testing during evaluation and in wake of downsizing AP

The Big Ugly Threat to Safety Net Hospitals Public Citizen

What We’re Not Talking About: The War and Our Children MedPage Today

AI

America’s AI build-out hinges on Chinese electrical parts Bloomberg. “Almost half of the U.S. data centers planned for this year are expected to be delayed or canceled.”

Breaking: Amazon to Pay $20.5 Million to Settle Suit Over Pollution in Oregon Food and Environment Reporting Network

Source Code for Anthropic’s Claude Code Leaks at the Exact Wrong Time Gizmodo

Immigration

Trump’s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration ProPublica. “The DOJ declined over 900 cases of federal program or procurement fraud.”

Maryland Karen Faces Felony Shadow After ICE Abducts Six Roofers Just Before $10,000 Payday Migrant Insider

Imperial Collapse Watch

Adaptation Asymmetry: Why Disruption Now Matters More Than Dominance Kautilya the Contemplator

Modelling the Impact of the Strait of Hormuz Closure on Global Gas Flows and Prices Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

What If the Oil Glut Never Existed? The Merchant’s News

Economy

US Treasury calls in regulators for talks on private credit risks FT

Casino Nation

The (Poly)Market Nobody Knows How to Govern Can We Still Govern?

Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story Times of Israel (archived)

Mr. Market

Trump’s threat to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’ jolts Asian stocks, U.S. futures and oil CNBC

The Bezzle

The Rise of the Grifter Guru Card Catalog

Class Warfare

One Billion Buildings Edward Ongweso Jr

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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55 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    “Trump rails against ‘stupid’ birthright citizenship after leaving Supreme Court hearing on landmark case”

    I believe that no sitting President has ever attended a session of the Supreme Court like that as in never. My guess is that Trump thought that his mere presence would overawe the Supremes into giving him the verdict that he wanted but of course it was a bust hence him leaving that courtroom.

    1. Sufferin Succotash

      One is forcibly reminded of the lit de justice, a practice occasionally engaged in by the kings of France before the Revolution.
      If the Parlement of Paris (France’s top royal appeals court) refused to register (approve) a royal decree His Majesty would attend a session of the Parlement in person and basically sit there glaring at the judges until they gave him what he wanted. Voila!

    2. Dr. John Carpenter

      It would be nice if some of Trump’s so claimed opposition took note of what happens when you refuse to let Trump remake the work in his image. See, it can be done and he’s got nothing in return! I think too many around him are overawed and clearly he’s used to that working as a tactic.

      1. Michael Fiorillo

        “Scratch a bully, find a punk” is an apt aphorism I once heard from a labor lawyer who’d just destroyed a blustering management attorney.

        More of us should be aware of this, and willing to act on it.

  3. FreeMarketApologist

    Re: Rib remodeling: “In the past, the main cosmetic procedure for waist-slimming was liposuction, says Dr. Josef Hadeed,… ”

    No, in the past, it used to be corsets. Can we look forward to the resurgence of this particular bit of apparel? (perhaps coupled with dinner salads made of some of those wacky tobaccy leaves mentioned elsewhere).

  4. The Rev Kev

    “Risky commando plan to seize Iran’s uranium came at Trump’s request”

    But nobody tell the Iranians what they are up to or it will spoil the surprise. Nobody knows where that material is in any case. It could be anywhere. In terms of the size of the country it is like me telling to you find half a dozen canisters and they are located somewhere between South Dakota and Florida. Good luck with that scavenger hunt.

    2. Jon Cloke

      I have both Iraqi WMDs (sold to me by a lovely Mr Hussein) AND Iranian Uranium (a song by Swann and Flanders?) in my garden shed.

      They’re on a two-fer for a mere $200,000,000 to some lucky buyer..

      Send me your contact details.

  5. Wukchumni

    “The situation is quite serious,” Todd Hartman, a spokesperson for the utility, told NBC News. He added that although Denver Water’s reservoirs are roughly 80 percent full, the city can’t rely on snowpack like it typically does to refill them as levels drop. “We’re in such a dire situation that we could be coming back to the public in two or three months and saying you’re limited to one day a week.”

    Water-Use Restrictions Follow Snow Drought and Heat Wave in the Western U.S. Inside Climate News
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Kayaked the Colorado River below Hoover Dam on the weekend, and on the drive back, the white lines on the walls go so far down on the other side of the dam, and then after driving back got to glimpse Lake Mead which has oh so many islands now.

    Its a dangerous situation-the Colorado River water imbroglio, we’ve left it too long to make a rational rationing, combined with the current administration being about useless at carrying anything through in an equitable manner.

    1. curlydan

      On my trips to or through Denver, I was always taken aback by the wonderfully green lawns throughout what seemed like a very dry city. I mean…those green lawns are _everywhere_. I finally realized that sprinkler systems were everywhere as well.

      When driving, I enter Colorado from the east and encounter at the state line the sign “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” amidst the very dry, treeless, and normally quite brown land… although the sunsets are quite colorful. It’s only when you finally see the mountains and the irrigated lawns of Denver that the state becomes colorful.

      I suspect Denver could use a dose of Las Vegas policy… pay for removing grass.

      1. Karen

        I would rather the price of water in Denver goes up enough to prohibit wasting water on lawns. The lawns dry up and the lawn loving homeowners are SOL and their grass gets removed by Mother Nature without compensation.

  6. jefemt

    Check the date on that psychotropic wonder tobacco plant article….
    Of Two Minds had a great one about The US licensing a DC Federal government immersive area at the theme park.

  7. The Rev Kev

    “U.A.E. Wants to Force Hormuz Open and Is Willing to Join the Fight”

    The UAE claims a few islands in the Gulf of Hormuz that are owned by Iran. This sounds like the UAE is trying to play nice with Trump so that he will take those islands on their behalf and give them to the UAE. Yeah, good luck with that one pal.

        1. Alice X

          Sancho Pamza

          Oh! Mr. Wuk, Sir: your depth of entendre is again saluted…

          And the Dow, the driver of some brethrens coils?

          It will do what it does in the search of profit.

  9. Carolinian

    Re Andrew Cockburn in London Review on Israeli assassination regime–He says one reason for Israeli success, if you can call it that, is that Euro spooks are helping them out. The signature example of the policy was the killing of the Munich Olympic planners a couple of whom weren’t even involved. Spielberg did indeed make a movie about this but it ended up questioning the morality and effectiveness of the eye for an eye (or speculative eye pre-gouging). Elsewhere today Klippenstein hints that all the death squadding may yet succeed in Iran. Seems doubtful though.

    1. eg

      Yeah — absent from that essay was anything like consideration of what ought to be a central focus of any analysis: “but does it work?”

      I see precisely zero evidence that it does. All the old enemies still remain, no matter how many putatively “indispensable” leaders are murdered.

      Perhaps there is some other motive than efficacy. Maybe it’s simply gratifying to the murderers or their community?

      Anyway, they might consider the eventual fate of the original Assassins …

  10. .Tom

    I think we should answer the request for prayers for Kristi and Bryon Noem thus:

    Here’s the Daily Mail’s exclusive https://archive.ph/YJqNn

    Some of the comments are quite good. “I guess she didn’t really Noem.”

  11. Clankenfoot

    Can anyone remember that article (possibly substack) that was posted or discussed here (in links, in comments, by itself?) which discussed structural factors in oil markets and WTI pricing, perhaps wide ranging but specifically mentioning potential for physical and market seizing related to the WTI hub at Cushing, Oklahoma?

    This would have been a couple or weeks ago or thereabouts.

      1. Clankenfoot

        Oh my..

        If you knew the searching and rummagings I’d been doing looking for that again..

        Thank you!

  12. Jason Boxman

    When Doctors Couldn’t Solve Their Medical Mysteries, They Turned to A.I. (NY Times)

    Some women with complex chronic illnesses are using chatbots to search for diagnoses or relief from their symptoms.

    And what was it?

    When Margie Smith got sick in 2022, she sought help from a parade of specialists.

    She saw an allergist for an intractable cough; three pulmonologists for the cough and breathlessness; an ear, nose and throat doctor for severe acid reflux; a cardiologist after she almost passed out while exercising. She got the sense that most were siloed in their specialties and couldn’t assemble the full puzzle.

    Yep.

    Eventually, Ms. Smith, 70, of Swannanoa, N.C., turned to the A.I. chatbot Claude. Through lengthy chats, as well as a Facebook group, she concluded that she had long Covid and it was causing dysautonomia — a condition, common in post-viral syndromes, in which the body struggles to regulate functions like pulse, blood pressure, digestion and temperature.

    (bold mine)

    Could be worse. You could have died. People do. Maybe wear a respirator?

    “The medical system really failed me,” she said. “Is it a good thing to be depending on A.I. for medical advice? I don’t think so. But it’s the option that’s available.”

    Public Health failed you, also.

    1. ilsm

      With AI you can forego diagnostic tests, did Claude order tests?

      The problem with Ai is gullible users.

  13. Jason Boxman

    I missed this, for The Bezzle

    NYSE teams up with Securitize for 24/7 tokenized securities platform (WSJ via MSN)

    Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) New York Stock Exchange and Securitize will work together to develop tokenized securities markets, furthering NYSE’s plan to develop a 24/7 trading platform for tokenized U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, the companies said on Tuesday.

    Securitize was named the first digital transfer agent eligible to mint blockchain-native securities for corporate or ETF issuers in the yet-to-be-created NYSE-affiliated tokenized securities platform, or Digital Trading Platform. Under a memorandum of understanding between the two companies, NYSE plans to partner with Securitize as a premier design partner in the development of a digital transfer agent program that’s designed to support on-chain settlement of tokenized security transactions.

    The move comes a day after exchange rival Nasdaq (NDAQ) announced a partnership with Talos to develop an integrated system for managing tokenized collateral. Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a Nasdaq proposal to permit certain stocks to be traded and settled in tokenized form.

    In January, the NYSE said it’s seeking regulatory approvals for a 24/7 tokenized securities platform, which will enable instant settlement, orders sized in dollar amounts, and stablecoin-based funding.

    Sounds pretty nasty.

  14. Wukchumni

    If the shebang with ground troops were to occur on Saturday, it’d be on 4-4, which in Chinese numerology means Death-Death, for those of you playing along at home.

  15. ciroc

    >The Iran War You’re Not Hearing About

    One of the more striking ones emerged this week: Iran’s IRGC announced a recruitment campaign for civilian volunteers called “Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran,” setting the minimum age to 12, as Human Rights Watch has observed. In other words, Iran’s premier ideological military force is apparently desperate enough to recruit children to help staff the exact kind of checkpoints and security posts that have been systematically targeted in the strike campaign described above.

    Although Iran loudly proclaims its victory, the actual situation is worse than we could have imagined. Even the Volkssturm—a Nazi German militia formed just before Germany’s defeat to make up for a shortage of troops—required its members to be at least 16 years old.

    1. Alice X

      We USian folk give our kiddies (even well under 12) plastic guns and they go bang bang in pretend mode against whom? The Indians? Sometimes we give them real guns. Freely after 18. Ours is a sick society. The Persians have been there for a very long time, and I expect they will still be there after the USian/Isr crimes.

    2. JP

      Well in the late 60’s I had a boss who told me he was a tank commander at 14 on the Russian front. He was from a respected family so maybe strings were pulled to make him a commander. I never asked how old the rest of the crew was.

    3. Steve H.

      My dear friend Volkmar Heinrich Liedtke’s father commanded a group using panzerfaust against tanks in file – one for the front, one for the back, and the tanks were trapped. He told Heinrich the boys were as young as twelve, late in the war.

    4. ilsm

      With the way US and IDF are bombing all Iranians are targets. The kids need to stay away from police stations and schools, prime “value” targets of the US and its proxy.

      Someone has to make tea for the squad!

      Many jobs that do not require full grown person. Powder monkeys in RN, drummer boys in US etc.

  17. flora

    1: NC responding verry slowly just now.

    2. Taibbi’s latest, no paywall, relevant to the energy wars.

    A Storied Russian Muckraker On Oil, Iran, Ukraine, and More

    Known for fearless journalism in the Yeltsin years, Leonid Krutakov resurfaces with an epic history of the oil business, at a time when war over energy has never been more relevant.

    https://www.racket.news/p/a-storied-russian-muckraker-on-oil

  18. Tom Stone

    Due to depleted weapons stocks the USA will soon be unable to project power overseas.
    Since the MIC needs endless Wars and the US Military is optimized for counter insurgency I expect it will be deployed at home as the populace becomes restive.
    Do keep in mind that the Emperor is insane, what seems extremely unlikely to any rational observer is more than possible.

  21. Sub-Boreal

    The link to the historical account of the Technocracy movement brought back some memories of my days on Vancouver Island in the early ’80s. I recall that there was one of Technocracy’s circular yin & yang signs beside the Island Highway near Nanaimo. At the time I had no idea what it was about, so this explains some of the background.

    A bit of searching turned up photos of a Technocracy building in Vancouver in the ’90s and earlier.

    More history here and here.

  22. Glen

    Chrome browser security updates incoming:

    Chrome update fixes 8 high-risk browser vulnerabilities
    https://www.pcworld.com/article/3098797/chrome-update-fixes-8-high-risk-browser-vulnerabilities.html

    Google should have pushed updates out, but make sure you get this if you’re using Chrome. These are being actively exploited.

    And for those interested in a more secure version of Chromium, you can try ungoogled-chromium:

    ungoogled-software /ungoogled-chromium https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium?tab=readme-ov-file

    Downloads here:

    Downloads for ungoogled-chromium https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-binaries/

    Be warned that this will not perform exactly like Chrome as the enhanced security breaks the connection to Google, and breaks DRM so certain YT will not play. You can generally log back in to Google if required.

    1. Hepativore

      Or, it might be easier to simply dump Chrome in favor of Firefox or Brave, as Chrome seems like it is another example of Google’s spyware masquerading as a browser these days.

      I have been using a fork of Firefox for years, as the only time I use Chrome is when I have to at work on my employer’s computers.

  23. Jason Boxman

    So, it’s 2026. And Bank of America now lets you pay your credit card directly rather than fighting with their Bill Pay system, just like you’ve been able to do with other major credit card issuers since as far back as 2002 or 2003.

    As a part of this change, we’re moving the ability to pay personal Bank of America credit cards from Bill Pay to Pay & Transfer.² If you aren’t already, please make any new one-time payments using the Pay & Transfer tab.

    It only took BoA 20 years to achieve this. And it isn’t due until 2 May!

    I never thought I’d live to see this day come.

  24. Wukchumni

    The shit has hit the toilet fan…

    “The toilet fan is reported to be jammed,” NASA spokesperson Gary Jordan said during live mission commentary. “Now the ground teams are coming up with instructions on how to get into the fan and clear that area to revive the toilet for the mission.”

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