Links 4/23/2026

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1. AG April 23, 2026 at 7:29 am

   re: film

   2x VARIETY

   1) Laura Poitras Backs Push Against Paramount-Warner Deal, Warns of U.S. Doc Funding Crisis

   Opening the industry section of Swiss doc festival Visions du Réel, the U.S. filmmaker points to collective action in the doc community among funding cuts
   https://variety.com/2026/film/global/laura-poitras-paramount-warner-deal-visions-du-reel-1236725815/

   2) ‘American Doctor’ Review: A Visceral Account of the War in Gaza Told Through the Eyes of Emergency Doctors

   By framing her documentary from the perspective of three American doctors — one Palestinian, one Jewish and one Zoroastrian — filmmaker Poh Si Teng questions whose voices and whose lives matter.
   https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/american-doctor-review-1236641189/
2. The Rev Kev April 23, 2026 at 7:53 am

   ‘unusual_whales
   @unusual_whales
   Warren: Are you refusing to tell us if you have investments in vehicles set up by Jeffrey Epstein?
   Kevin Warsh: Those assets will be sold if I’m confirmed’

   So he will keep his Epstein investments unless he gets this job but has promised to sell them if he does get it. I suspect that he will sell it to his wife, the heiress Jane Lauder-

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Lauder
   1. Ben Panga April 23, 2026 at 9:50 am

      Her Dad Ronald Lauder was (is?) one of Netanyahu’s main backers and funders.
   2. Bugs April 23, 2026 at 9:53 am

      Nobody will ever write an article about her father Ron and who he’s connected to. It’s that scary. He’s in constant motion.
3. AG April 23, 2026 at 8:07 am

   re: film 2

   The courtroom comedy about the LOONEY TUNES with Will Forte that was held back for 3 years:

   Coyote vs. ACME | Official Trailer
   1:46
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-43VeYGiPM&t=106s

   VARIETY report:
   https://variety.com/2026/film/news/coyote-vs-acme-trailer-released-1236726983/

   Originally developed for HBO Max, the film was completed with a reported budget of about $70 million before Warner Bros. opted not to move forward with its release in 2023 as part of a broader shift in distribution strategy under CEO David Zaslav. The decision followed similar cancellations of completed projects, including “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” and drew industry attention at the time, given that the film was already finished.

   In 2025, Ketchup Entertainment acquired the film for a reported $50 million, setting it on course for a global theatrical rollout nearly three years after its initial planned debut.

   p.s. Mr. Zaslav has walked away with $500M for midwifing the merger with Paramount.
   Kicking him out with 0 might have been more appropriate…or some indictment for corruption.
   But then, the entire industry is pure corruption called: connections and social-networking.
   1. Pat April 23, 2026 at 10:16 pm

      There are numerous examples, but Zaslav is one who could be the poster child illustrating the need for my desired corporate officers compensation laws.
      1. No golden parachutes or special health insurance, they have to have the same benefits package as the majority of their employees. This ties them to their labor force in a manner that allows for them to clearly understand the consequences of their actions.
      2. All compensation above 20 times the median wage of their employees is held in an escrow account for five years to be available to cover bankruptcy, corporate downturns and/or lawsuits. These higher wages and bonuses are supposedly deserved because they make the choices, the decisions, the strategies that result in the business’ success. This makes sure there is long term success not some six month blip before they get that extravagant compensation.

      Clearly not going to happen, but should have been on the books for my entire life.
4. Bob from Kansas April 23, 2026 at 8:07 am

   “FBI ‘spooked’ by sophisticated theft of agricultural drones in New Jersey ”

   This make me worry about a false flag event in NYC.
5. AG April 23, 2026 at 8:14 am

   re: Milei

   I don´t follow that particular madness but this praise of a headline caught my eye:

   BERLINER ZEITUNG

   machine-translation

   German weekly DIE ZEIT “is discrediting Javier Milei, even though his record is outstanding.

   Renowned economists rarely criticize Argentina’s president anymore. The country is developing too well. The IMF, growth, and declining poverty speak for themselves. A guest commentary.”
   https://archive.is/Q86cW
6. Carolinian April 23, 2026 at 8:14 am

   Re SPLC–one should point out that the SPLC has long had it’s critics on the left as well.

   https://harpers.org/archive/2000/11/the-church-of-morris-dees/
   1. ambrit April 23, 2026 at 8:38 am

      Too true, but the outfit is being accused of using methods that are also used by the Feds. So, a massive case of ‘Functional Hypocrisy.’
      A classic case of any stick to beat a dog.
      Any, and I mean any critics of the Establishment are now fair game for the Neo McCarthyite Movement.
      Look for the ACLU to be targeted next.
   2. Bugs April 23, 2026 at 9:56 am

      I remember old man Alexander Cockburn being on the warpath against them. I miss that guy.
      1. Carolinian April 23, 2026 at 11:44 am

         Me too. He was one of my writer heroes.
   3. Wukchumni April 23, 2026 at 10:02 am

      I don’t follow SPLC, but I’ll tell you that in 2012 they pegged our nutter evang-cum militia-come tax evader church perfectly…

      The Glock, er flock left town for Idaho about a decade ago, and Bonners Ferry gain is our gain, too!

      A California church with longstanding ties to far-right extremists and a militia of its own is preparing for war.

      In a 22-acre compound at the southern edge of Sequoia National Park in California, a secretive cohort of militant Christian fundamentalists is preparing for war. One of the men helping train the flock in the art of combat, a former Marine named Steve Klein, believes that California is riddled with Muslim Brotherhood sleeper cells “who are awaiting the trigger date and will begin randomly killing as many of us as they can.”

      “I know I’m getting prepared to shoot back,” Klein says.

      At the head of the Church at Kaweah is Pastor Warren Mark Campbell, who sees yet another enemy on the horizon: the “New World Order,” that chimera of the conspiracists who populate the resurgent, antigovernment “Patriot” movement.

      https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/church-kaweah-spreads-hateful-militant-christian-views/
      1. Cliff April 23, 2026 at 12:24 pm

         They had rented an old metal building somewhat cattywampus to the BF middle school (home of the Badgers) where they held church and ran an army surplus store. (Since scraped and made a combo dollar store/OReilly’s) Evidently not being made to feel at home, or perhaps finding there was a complete lack of enemy action in what is likely America’s most palid county, I was told they transcended (deployed retrogradedly?) to a more remote location in central ID and the good people of BF were left behind.

         But worry not for the safety of the white god fearing citizens of Rock Ridge, er… Bonners Ferry. (https://youtu.be/On73aHpgdSQ?t=47) Coming into town from the southern flank via Hwy 95 there is a prominent billboard which states:

         “This is Trump Country. Love God, guns, family, and your neighbors. Go Badgers!!!”

         That’s right, guns before family. Gunliness is next to Godliness.

         Go Badgers!!!
         1. Wukchumni April 23, 2026 at 9:29 pm

            They opened up a ‘survival store’ here full of 1980’s leftover military goods and lasted about a year before its survival went away. Outside they had targets of human torsos on paper that bled red when hit~

            I’m glad they weren’t a hit in Bonners Ferry, ha ha.
7. The Rev Kev April 23, 2026 at 8:23 am

   “Who Killed the Florida Orange?”

   This is a long read but well worth the effort, especially with the end of an era vibes that it has to it. How orchards were now being turned into real estate tracts and the like. The reason why it happened and so suddenly had many causes but I cannot help agree with the interviewed security guard at the end of the article where he said-

   ‘I think they killed it themselves, with chemicals. That’s a fact. They sprayed so much chemicals, the damn grass don’t even grow here anymore—you can quote me. I knew it back in 1990. I said, ‘They’re sprayin’ so much chemicals it’s gonna be the end. And it’s the end.’
   1. Wukchumni April 23, 2026 at 8:47 am

      This is the main culprit, and HLB hasn’t ruined the citrus industry in Cali, but its lurking~

      A few years ago I was talking to a fellow cabin owner who has thousands of acreage in citrus and asked him if he was worried about HLB, and he laughed and said that’s the least of my problems now, they’re ripping out rainforest in Brazil and planting Valencia oranges (juice orange) by the zillions, undercutting our market share in a big way because they could undersell anybody.. He’d switched to Cara Cara oranges instead.

      In 2005, Florida first got signs of a new affliction in its groves called citrus greening disease. It also has a Chinese name, Huanglongbing, or HLB, because it came from China, where oranges also came from in the first place.

      Citrus greening disease is caused by a bacterial infection that is delivered by the gnawing of the Asian citrus psyllid. (It’s now believed the psyllid first turned up near the Port of Miami in 1998.) The flea-sized psyllid bites the leaves and transmits the disease, which slowly chokes out the tree’s vascular system from the inside, taking years to finally show itself. By the time a tree is displaying symptoms—three to five years, in most cases—it’s too late.

      Floridian farmers are no strangers to disease. When HLB first began to spread, there was no indication it would be any worse than any other bug that had appeared over the years. The farmers did what they always did: They sprayed and sprayed, chemicals and pesticides, stuff so powerful that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration freaked out about potential risks to human health.
      1. Jason Boxman April 23, 2026 at 10:32 am

         Wowzers; I grew up on a former orange grove, the whole neighborhood, in central Florida. And we all had well water.

         I hope that mass spraying of death only started after I was born…
   2. Carolinian April 23, 2026 at 9:10 am

      Show on PBS last night about an English gentleman farmer who gave up on his practically sterile soil and turned his property back to nature, earthworms, no plowing, free range herbivores and, eventually, beavers. He had been told that the heavy use before of fertilizer and herbicides had killed all organic life in his soil. To grow anything nitrogen and other ingredients had to be brought in from outside.

      But perhaps this has long been a Euro story as well. As discussed here in the past, Europeans would go so far as gathering remains from old battlefields to fertilize their crops and guano from S. America was in high demand.
      1. wol April 23, 2026 at 10:17 am

         A parallel to Clavicular’s testosterone replacement that left him infertile. A good thing in that case.
8. flora April 23, 2026 at 9:00 am

   re the headline: EU gives preliminary approval to unblock €90 billion Ukraine loan – France24

   The grift must flow.
9. flora April 23, 2026 at 9:08 am

   re headline: Who Killed the Florida Orange? – Slate

   Anita Bryant? (joke, joke!)
   1. Carolinian April 23, 2026 at 9:12 am

      Upcountry where I live used to be mostly peach orchards. Now it’s mansionette orchards. Let them eat mansionettes!
      1. Wukchumni April 23, 2026 at 9:16 am

         The peach industry in Cali was hit with the news that Del Monte was getting out of the biz, and stone fruit is a much rougher trade than citrus-as you can leave oranges on the tree for a long time-but peaches et al all ripen at the same time and don’t last all that long-which is where canning them made the most sense.
         1. Judith April 23, 2026 at 9:45 am

            Masumoto organic peach farming in CA.

            https://www.cornucopia.org/2015/03/the-family-peach-farm-that-became-a-symbol-of-the-food-revolution/
            1. Judith April 23, 2026 at 10:00 am

               I buy local peaches at the farmers market in western MA every summer. And apples from that same farmer in the fall. I appreciate being able to do that.

               Industrial farming, which is different from local farming, is ultimately destructive. Humans will be forced to live more simply, one way or another. (Technological solutions are essentially chemical/energy solutions.)
               1. Wukchumni April 23, 2026 at 10:09 am

                  I know of no orchard here growing different tree crops aside from citrus, which used to have Valencia and Navel oranges which ripen at different times, but as mentioned above, juice oranges are a no-go now.

                  Ultimately we need to get back to basics, where the lions share of us were involved in growing or raising our own food, versus the few percent now involved in doing things the wrong way, always on an industrial scale.
10. ciroc April 23, 2026 at 9:09 am

    >‘Uber for nurses’: gig-work apps lobby to deregulate healthcare, report finds

    A screenshot of a quick-bid auction from a nurse gig platform, Clipboard Health, states: “You can choose the rate you’d like as a bid, and the lowest bid wins!”

    The auction allows gig nurses to make an hourly-wage bid for work shifts at a medical facility, and the lowest-wage bid secures the position.

    Why don’t we do this with the C-suite? They’re getting paid way too much!
    1. manavortex April 24, 2026 at 4:06 am

       Cory Doctorow has been railing against this for a while already.
11. lyman alpha blob April 23, 2026 at 9:19 am

    RE: FBI ‘spooked’ by sophisticated theft of agricultural drones in New Jersey

    They’re afeared because “the terrorists” might get cropduster technology??!?? Jesus wept.
12. t April 23, 2026 at 9:46 am

    Why do they dress their killer robots in little outfits?
    1. Henry Moon Pie April 23, 2026 at 11:53 am

       It may not be something that’s publicized, but killer robots are actually quite modest.
       1. hereweare April 23, 2026 at 12:10 pm

          On the contrary: the outfits are little because that’s thought to make them look sexier.
13. Jason Boxman April 23, 2026 at 10:29 am

    Pollinators feel the climate sting:

    I see this here; The bees are out, but the roses at the lake don’t bloom for weeks yet. It’s always seemed suboptimal, to see them buzzing around in the dozens and dozens, with no flowers in sight.
    1. Chas April 23, 2026 at 10:59 am

       If possible, give them sugar water.
14. The Rev Kev April 23, 2026 at 10:35 am

    “Rabbi accused of war crimes selected for Israel’s national celebration”

    That’s nothing new. Years ago you had a rabbi coming out and saying that it was permissible to kill not only women but also the babies of non-Jews. And not that long after they made him head rabbi of the IDF.
    1. Carolinian April 23, 2026 at 12:02 pm

       Colonel Chivington, who massacred a native village in Colorado, said “nits make lice.” Israeli slogan: “shoot and cry.” The latter is more smarty pants but not less cold blooded.

       One should point, however, to the Israeli media articles that Alastair Crooke linked yesterday which were about how psychologically devastated many IDF veterans are by what they did under orders and conformist pressure. Their guilt shows how non different the self styled chosen really are. Universal attitudes of humanism are way overdo lately.
       1. Wukchumni April 23, 2026 at 12:06 pm

          ‘They were only ordering followers…’
    2. vidimi April 23, 2026 at 4:46 pm

       we rightly focus on the crazies in the US evangelical movement but not enough attention is given to this death cult.
15. The Rev Kev April 23, 2026 at 11:00 am

    ‘Nury Vittachi
    @NuryVittachi
    HUGE FUNDING JUMP FOR AUTONOMOUS KILLER ROBOTS
    BREAKING NEWS: The Pentagon this week filed a call for a 24,000% cash increase (not a misprint) for a unit that creates flying killer robots for use in a war on China.’

    Umm, the pentagon might be able to fund hundreds of these things to be sent against China but China through it’s industrial base would be able to send tens of thousands of them to America-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJF9k1R0bPc (19:51 mins)
    1. hereweare April 23, 2026 at 12:15 pm

       Give that percentages ain’t what they used to be, you have to wonder if a 24,000% cash increase is Pentaspeak for abolishing the programme. One can only hope …
    2. Mikel April 23, 2026 at 12:57 pm

       I’m old enough to remember when people were saying air power isn’t enough to bring capitulation in a conflict.
16. wl April 23, 2026 at 12:38 pm

    what do you think happened to Sy Hersch? Doesnt seem like his old self anymore? Dementia?
    1. wol April 23, 2026 at 1:30 pm

       Maybe someone mentioned his kids, as when horndog met then AG Loretta Lynch at the Phoenix airport and he reported they talked about ‘grandchildren’. In some quarters ‘mobspeak’ for a veiled threat.
       https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/05/04/when_loretta_met_bill_on_the_tarmac_140244.html
17. Mikel April 23, 2026 at 1:05 pm

    Brian B. : IRAN – Is the US Blockade on Iran Working?

    I think the “noise” he’s referring to is especially common in election years deemed as important.
18. Glen April 23, 2026 at 1:47 pm

    I’ve noticed memory, SSDs and HDDs prices and availability are all going crazy:

    SSDs: WTF?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O6FQFhNhiw

    All caused by AI data center demand? This is crazy! At this rate the typical human will be priced out of an affordable PC/laptop/smartphone so who will all that AI capacity be for?
    1. ThirtyOne April 23, 2026 at 2:34 pm

       Last August I bought a Western Digital Black 8TB NVME drive for $600. It’s now selling for $1479.
    2. Huey April 23, 2026 at 7:59 pm

       All the better for them to rent you a computer to use. Probably even more lucrative than real estate.
19. upstater April 23, 2026 at 2:01 pm

    Re. Germany unveils strategy for becoming Europe’s strongest military by 2039 Defense News

    Just in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of WW2. Considering Russia is also a European country, I wonder what the German revanchists have in mind to exceed Russian capabilities? Maybe we’ll soon read about Japanese aspirations to be the greatest military power in Asia. This is so sickening!
    1. manavortex April 24, 2026 at 4:51 am

       Bringing the band back together!

       (I hate everything about this)
20. hereweare April 23, 2026 at 3:04 pm

    Motorcycles, TVs and Couches • Israeli Soldiers Testify to Widespread Looting in Lebanon: ‘Commanders Know and Do Nothing’ – Haaretz (archived)
    Israeli soldiers have been looting significant amounts of civilian property from homes and businesses in southern Lebanon, according to testimonies given to Haaretz by IDF soldiers and commanders stationed inside the country.
    The accounts describe the theft of motorcycles, televisions, paintings, sofas and rugs on a wide scale, which has become routine. Both senior and junior commanders on the ground are said to be aware of the phenomenon, but are not taking disciplinary action to curb it.
21. hereweare April 23, 2026 at 3:15 pm

    The Short and Ridiculous Trial of a Protester Arrested in an Inflatable Penis Costume – The Intercept

    Well worth a read for amusement value if nothing else.
22. ThirtyOne April 23, 2026 at 3:34 pm

    The National Human Rights Commission is concerned, I tell ya.

    Haaretz Report Raises Serious Concerns Over Looting of Civilian Property in Southern Lebanon

    State Obligations and Accountability

    States are under a clear obligation to prevent violations of international humanitarian law, investigate allegations promptly and impartially, and prosecute those responsible. This includes both direct perpetrators and those in positions of authority who fail to act.

    Failure to address such conduct risks entrenching a climate of impunity and undermining the protections afforded to civilians and their property during armed conflict.

    https://nhrclb.org/en/archives/6749
23. Revenant April 23, 2026 at 5:10 pm

    The link to “Private equity courts OpenAI and Anthropic” is not working….
24. amfortas April 23, 2026 at 6:27 pm

    your resident luddite has a question: lately, my samsung fone has been telling me that the messages thing…ie:texting…will be discontinued in like july…and would i like to go on ahead and switch to google’s version with “powerful features”.
    i would rather not go to google, because…in my experience, its like being a little bit pregnant.
    is there some open source app i could get for this?
    cheaper, the better…but i am willing to pay a yearly fee.
    i would prefer a one off fee, of course, but i dont think these kinda folks do that anymore.
    hate to “assign homework”, and all…but i literally have no one else to ask this sort of thing in real life….and NC seems filled with tech savvy folks.
    1. ThirtyOne April 23, 2026 at 7:17 pm

       Not a “neutral” site. but potentially helpful:

       https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/samsung-galaxy/samsung-messages-app-has-a-shutdown-date
       1. Jabura Basadai April 23, 2026 at 8:33 pm

          got that message a year ago for my 10 year old Samsung – no alternatives that suited me – finally broke down and got an iPhone – only use phone for texts, maps and calls, nothing else – there is so much crap included it’s just confusing to me – sorry i gave up my land line –
    2. Huey April 23, 2026 at 8:13 pm

       Is this for sms text messaging? Not exactly a tech guy, but if that’s all you want you can download one of several open-source sms messenger apps from the F-droid app. Just type in Messenger in their search and some decent options should come up, like FOSS Messenger (or something like that, iirc).

       You would probably have to enable installing the F-droid apk (like an exe file) from wherever on your phone you downloaded it/moved it to, but you can always turn that permission off again after. You will have to allow F-droid to install apks (eg, for your new messenger) though. Once you’re careful, you should be fine – just re-iterating I’m not a tech guy so I can’t counsel you on all the risks, and I’m not sure how worried you might want to be about someone trying to install malware etc. on your phone.

       F-Droid is generally pretty good – helps to distribute free and open-source android apps without going through Play Store. It’s not perfect, though, and free/open-source doesn’t mean safe. Not every app is fully free (might have in-app purchases) or (I think) fully open-source either. Another cool thing, though, is you can use F-Droid to install Play Store alternatives, like Aurora Store, to install/update apps you’d normally get through playstore (maybe something like whatsapp), without logging into (or after fully logging out of) Google. At least for apps without an up-front cost, for fresh installs.
    3. upstater April 23, 2026 at 8:40 pm

       We downloaded FOSSIFY and it ported all the Samsung messages. It seems to work, but we have not fully switched yet.
       1. upstater April 23, 2026 at 8:47 pm

          I should’ve added this link to AP:

          Samsung is discontinuing its texting app, tells impacted users to switch to Google Messages

          Samsung says switching to Google Messages will give users access to updates like the latest artificial intelligence features from Google’s Gemini — which includes an experimental feature called “Remix” to generate images during conversations and AI-powered reply suggestions — and the ability to share higher quality photos between Android and Apple iOS devices through RCS-enabled messages.

          Google messaging is not “like being a little bit pregnant”, it’s more like VD!
    4. alrhundi April 23, 2026 at 10:32 pm

       “Textra” is an alternative that I’ve used and that worked well
25. Jonathan King April 23, 2026 at 9:28 pm

    I posted the following endorsement of NC on the Facebook page of a fellow skeptic about the Iran war, and wonder if it maps to others’ perceptions of the site. Before posting this encomium I’d already linked this person to the daily Iran discussion, but wanted them (and any of their followers in our self-satisfied liberal Berkeley nabe) to not ignore the rest of the site: My concern is that as a lurker far more than a commenter or contributor since I discovered the site, it’s possible I’ve misrepresented the zeitgeist here.

    “The main page is what’s useful on a regular basis: the Daily Links. A long set of links on various economic and political topics, with a remarkably well informed commentariat poking and prodding that info. They have expertise on on all sorts of topics you wouldn’t find interesting until you read up on them — they’re why I was all over urea a month ago. I especially appreciate that they post links with opinions contrary to the site’s worldview, to promote discussion of ‘dissenting’ views. The moderator, Yves Smith, is a focused polymath (finance, commerce, all sorts of things) who challenges anyone who posts w/out a link or other confirming info to Stop Making Shit Up. It’s my first stop every day, after the NY Times (which I read first so I know what the NakedC commentariat are talking about).”

    Did I privilege “Links” over other features? For my cohort it would be the best place to get a flavor of the site imo, though many of them will infarct over “Democrats Suck” and refuse to read on.
    1. Ben Panga April 24, 2026 at 5:29 am

       I always point people to Links when championing NC. It’s so obviously good, and different to what is found elsewhere. It enables one to dip into the topics that are of interest and not the others. Or even find new topics of interest.

       If they like Links, they will naturally find the other good stuff. If they don’t like Links….

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