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Links 6/20/2026

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At 1,000 years old, Sherwood Forest’s Major Oak is finally dead Nottingham Post (Micael T)

Defining Christian Humanism Comment (Robin K)

Byzantine & Medieval Art Isn’t Supposed to Look “Real” Sacred Images Project (Micael T)

Forget Stoicism. Skepticism is the ancient philosophy we need today. Big Think

The Ghost Roads of Ireland’s Great Famine JSTOR (Micael T)

The Cult of the Enhanced Self Derek Thompson (Micael T)

Ebola

Climate/Environment

The ocean has shielded us from the worst of climate change. Now it is running a fever Guardian

Souring seas: Ocean acidification threatens the world’s food supply Oceanographic

Compound droughts hit plant growth much harder than scientists expected Earth

Russia Deploys Emergency Crews to Siberia as Krasnoyarsk Wildfires Nearly Quadruple in Size Moscow Times

Water

Nairobi: Eastlands residents struggle to cope as water shortages worsen Citizen

Rising temperatures may increase flood risk through river ‘whiplash’, study finds Guardian

China?

China raises ‘serious concern’ over US-Japan ‘extended nuclear deterrence’ Anadolu Agency

Taiwan presses Washington for billions in weapons as China tensions grow Independent

First Close Look at China’s Unique Newly Launched Nuclear Submarine with Enhanced Stealth Military Watch

Japan

Yen teeters on cusp of 40-year low, pound firms Reuters

Japan raids ice cream giants over price-fixing allegations BBC

Koreas

North Korea says treaty with Russia ‘essential legal weapon’ for stability Korea Herald

Southeast Asia

Myanmar military airstrike kills seven civilians in Rakhine state Aljazeera

South of the Border

Cuban churches forced to ration Communion wafers CathNews

Bolivian blockades strangle economy, pressuring centre-right leader Financial Times

A shattered peace: Inside Colombia’s never-ending drug war San Juan Daily Star

Ecuadorian troops to be deployed in Guayas to strengthen security operations against criminal groups Reuters

Africa

Africa’s multipolar scramble GIS Reports

An attack by armed men on an airport in Niger’s capital has killed 11 soldiers and two civilians, authorities said, five months after a major assault Aljazeera

Ethiopia election 2026: Tigray excluded and on edge DW

Western countries warn of atrocities, imminent RSF escalation in Sudan’s al-Obeid Reuters

Somalia warns Israel against meddling in Somaliland Aljazeera

European Disunion

‘We are living in a permanent time of crisis,’ says former ECB president Trichet TrustNet

Hegseth announces review of US forces in Europe as he lambasts NATO allies in Brussels meeting Euronews

Old Blighty

UK Posts Highest Budget Deficit for Any May Since the Pandemic Bloomberg

Number of shoplifters brandishing weapons surges Telegraph

NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPs Guardian

Hollow State End Game John Robb (Micael T)

Authoritarian Babyism All That Is Solid (Micael T)

Israel v. The Resistance

Tanker owners still reluctant to send ships through the Strait of Hormuz TradeWinds

Diplomatic agreements may lead to Israel-Iran escalation, former Navy commander warns Jerusalem Post

Syraqistan

Syria reports new Israeli incursion into Quneitra village amid ongoing border tensions Arab News

New Not-So-Cold War

Stanislav Krapivnik: Russia’s Offensive Gains Speed & Anger Boils Over in Moscow Glenn Diesen

Zelensky Gives Belarus 7-Day Ultimatum in Unexpected Threat Simplcius

Finland’s parliament passes bill in support of lifting total ban on nuclear weapons Euronews

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

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Imperial Collapse Watch

The ghosts of the ‘rules-based world order’ CounterFire

Trade Wars Are Giving Birth to ‘Open Plurilateralism’ Bloomberg

See this part of the tweet:

Every time you drive past one of these upgraded cameras, the sensor sweeps up the unique electronic identifiers of every device in your vehicle. Your cell phone. Your smartwatch. Your wireless headphones. Your fitness tracker. Your laptop. Your tablet. Your car’s own infotainment system. Your tire pressure sensors. Your vehicle’s Bluetooth hotspot.

Scoop: FulcrumSec Leaks Novo Nordisk Data After $25M Demand Goes Unpaid DataBreaches.Net (Micael T)

Trump 2.0

Trump says there are ‘no limits’ to his power The Hill. Um, Trump is asking for God to smite him.

What Americans think about Trump’s handling of Iran, according to a new AP-NORC poll Associated Press

Israel NDAA Provision ‘Section 219’ Faces Bipartisan Blowback From House Lawmakers Military.com

Italy nixes envoy’s U.S. visit as leader Meloni “stunned” by Trump comments: “Neither I nor Italy beg” CBS

GOP Clown Car

‘Coordinated effort’: Kansas Republican leaders have a plan to cancel the 2026 U.S. Senate election Kansas Reflector. If this plot is underway in Kansas, similar ones are sure to be in motion in other states

Supremes

Supreme Court limits power of federal government to disarm drug users CNN

Economy

Fertiliser price shocks could have ‘lasting effects’ on food production GTR

Global fertilizer trade down 30% ANBA

From human urine to worm manure: unusual fertilisers boosted by Gulf conflict Financial Times

Global exports downturn deepens in May as war hits trade in services S&P Global

Insurers seek to define ‘war’ as risk rises of global power clashes Financial Times

Central banks are repatriating gold bars Vzglayd via machine translation (Micael T)

Mr. Market Needs a Therapist

For warning signs of the next global financial crisis, watch the activities of both banks and nonbanks Atlantic Council

AI

‘We created a monster’: companies rein in AI usage as costs strain budgets Financial Times

Norway severely curtails AI use in elementary school Reuters

Exclusive: Neuroscience journal editor resigns over automation concerns Transmitter (timotheus)

The New Geopolitics of AI: Water, Energy, and the Battle for Computational Power Modern Diplomacy

Guillotine Watch

Turns Out, There Really Is a Cabal of Elite Crazies Trying to Control the World Esquire (Ann)

Antidote du jour. Tracie H: “This is a male Costa’s Hummingbird. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned him yet, but he hangs out on this branch whenever there is a high wind. He seems to love balancing and fighting the wind–aerobics for birds, I guess”:

And a bonus:

A second bonus:

A third:

And a different sort of bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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11 comments

    1. Frank

      Microsoft discovers new lightweight backdoor that steals cryptocurrency.

      The company named the worm Crypto Clipper monitors clipboard contents for patterns that are consistent with standardized 12- or 24-word seed phrases. When found, it uploads them, along with the screenshots, to the attacker’s server. The stealer also replaces addresses it finds with ones belonging to attacker-controlled wallets. This allows the malware to divert payments to the attacker’s pockets. Microsoft believes the purpose of the screenshots is to provide context that may be useful.

      https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/06/microsoft-spots-new-self-propagating-malware-for-stealing-cryptocurrency/

      Reply ↓
    2. Michael Fiorillo

      Microstrategy’s preferred stock is sinking fast, which might be the signal preceding a big Bitcoin/crypto sell-off.

      One can always hope…

      Reply ↓
  4. Steve H.

    Eliot Jacobson’s heart is in the right place, but he chooses his units for maximum red. When he says ‘the entire global ocean’, it doesn’t mean all parts of the entirety. Take a closer look at the chart title, it’s for 60°S to 60°N, what is labelled ‘World’ at Climate Reanalyzer. In fact the Subpolar North Atlantic is running under long-term averages, a nuance worthy of discussion that Jacobson’s phrasing wipes out. It’s too bad, he’s got a good eye, but he often clicks the knob to eleven and undermines his credibility.

    Reply ↓
  5. Rolf

    Thank you for the wonderful antidotes today! The last is so truly uplifting. Acts of kindness make life worth living!

    Reply ↓
  6. The Rev Kev

    “At 1,000 years old, Sherwood Forest’s Major Oak is finally dead”

    It’s a shame but no tree can live forever, even one that may have been alive at the time of William the Conquer-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Oak

    Would you believe that David Hasselhof was given a sapling from this tree?

    Reply ↓
  7. Ian

    ELSAG Signaltrace is a scam. There is no existing technology that can be attached to a flock camera pole that could possibly pick up every signal the article claims, particularly from a moving vehicle. If you were close enough, you might get some of the data described in the article, but again, physics wins. The signal strength of a bluetooth device is just not going to be strong enough to be detectable beyond a hundred feet or so (https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-far-bluetooth-range/). As for wifi, I can’t even get it to cover my house without repeaters. Imagine trying to get a clear signal when the detector is mounted on a pole a few hundred feet from the highway, trying to monitor hundreds of other signals, in moving vehicles. You might pick up an identifier here and there, but I seriously doubt that it would hold up in court as evidence. Any competent radio engineer would shred the idea pretty quickly.

    I’m sure they can sell this to cops though. They’re still using lie detectors and other bullshit tech.

    Reply ↓
  8. lyman alpha blob

    RE: Forget Stoicism. Skepticism is the ancient philosophy we need today.

    Agree with the headline wholeheartedly. I don’t have the books in front of me, so paraphrasing here, but philosopher John Gray in his book Feline Philosophy pointed out that is was much easier to be a stoic and just grin and bear it if one were an emperor like Marcus Aurelius who could have anything at the snap of a finger, than it would be for a pauper without a crust of bread to their name. Mary Beard referred to the Mediations in a recent book as “Marcus Aurelius’ random jottings” or some such.

    People should always consider that they could be mistaken and there are far too many idiots walking around completely sure of themselves these days. But the author touts Socrates as a great skeptic, when the academic school didn’t start until well after Socrates’ death. Socrates is not my favorite. And as for the conclusion of the article, the author clearly hasn’t read the history in depth –

    “Anecdotally, the difference between Stoicism and Skepticism is perhaps best illustrated through the fates of Seneca and Socrates. Both were killed, and in more or less the same way: by being forced to commit suicide by authorities they’d run afoul of. But where Seneca died having educated the cruel and paranoid emperor Nero, whose unstable reign plunged the Roman Empire into a civil war, Socrates died as he had lived, speaking truth to power. Or, more accurately, questioning truth to power.”

    Just no. Socrates was a fan of oligarchy, and encouraged Alcibiades who led Athens to ruin, among other faults. And he was offered exile – he could have just walked away. But instead he was a stubborn blowhard and drank the hemlock. Good riddance I say.

    For me, I’ll take Diogenes any day. Now get off my lawn.

    Reply ↓

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