Saturday, February 7, 2026
US Heavy-Handedness Forges Russia-Iran-India Ties
This Asian north-south bloc grows stronger in response to Washington’s efforts to maintain hegemony, and as Sir Halford John Mackinder said, “Who rules the world island commands the world.”
Hungary Asks the War Questions and Probes Merkel’s Minsk Deception
On Merkel’s and Germany’s posture toward the war in Ukraine and Russia generally.
Needed Global Financial Reforms Foregone Yet Again
The pathologies that produced the financial crisis are still circulating.
Reviewing WHO’s Draft “Respiratory Pathogens: Pandemic Preparedness Guidance” [Pounds Head on Desk]
Needs a rewrite.
2:00PM Water Cooler 12/14/2022
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open Thread ~
Notes on SBF’s Indictment and SEC/CFTC Civil Suits, Incarceration, Meetup with Reality
SBF’s fortunes just took a big nosedive, or for the more jaundiced, got marked to market.
The Economic Consequences of War
On the economic effects of wars, drawing on a novel database of nearly 400 wars over the past two centuries.
New York Times Strike: From Reporters to Rabble-Rousers
Workers at the New York Times stopped working to demand better pay and labor rights—but only for a day. What if they flexed their power?
2:00PM Water Cooler 12/13/2022
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
The UK Firm at the Heart of a High-Level Fraud Conviction in Russia
Russia cracks down on a few oligarchs using UK offshore-owned corporate entities that face little scrutiny.
On Bicentennial of US-Mexico Diplomatic Relations, Former US Ambassador to Mexico Accuses AMLO of “Goading” Washington
The thorniest issue remains, of course, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, on which AMLO’s government has tried to stay firm to its neutral position.
The Night of the Pen Knives – The Olaf Scholz Plot Exposed as Putz, Not Putsch
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Thomas Haldenwang, the internal security chief Scholz accepted from Angela Merkel, have pulled off a media coup in the style of the first German minister of propaganda.
