How Long Can Life Wait? Mars For The Rest of Us
The forgotten formula for lovable cities Works in Progress
Despite sacrificing people after catastrophic El Niño flooding, ancient societies were generally peaceful Frontiers
Climate/Environment
Some Parts of the Ocean Are Turning a Weird Shade of Blue-Green. Scientists Suspect It’s Plastic ZME Science
Who Returned to Paradise? Brief Ecology
Climate Change Has Become So Bad That Rice Krispies Don’t Have Actual Rice in Them Anymore Futurism
Pandemics
Is America on the brink of an animal-flu pandemic? The Telegraph
Many more dairy workers are sick with avian influenza than is being reported. ICE is surging in Yakima. There have been 522 ICE abductions in Yakima from January through July 2026, the highest reported total of any Washington city during that period.
Workers are not being told about the risk of the virus. They are not being tested for H5N1 for fear of ICE retaliation. They are continuing to go to work.
They are taking home raw milk that should be dumped, making cheese from it, and feeding raw milk to cats who then pass away from the virus.
It is a public health nightmare.
We need more public outreach and to make sure they have access to testing and seasonal flu vaccines.
#onehealth #h5n1
— Crystal Heath DVM (@drcrystalheath) November 8, 2026
Japan
Japan to provide radar system, unmanned aircraft to Philippine military amid rising tensions with China Anadolu Agency
Japan refuses to kowtow to China even with tourists gone, rare earths squeezed Intellinews
China?
The Shanghai Reality Check: Why Corporate America Still Bets on China George Chen
Why the Cyberpocalypse Might Hit China Harder ChinaTalk
The “Blue Tsunami” and Strategic Stability: Chinese Commentary on the Midterms Sinification
Syraqistan
I put a map of the “Yellow Line” on a topographic map of Gaza. It shows that Israel is pushing Palestinians into the lowest-lying parts of Gaza, ensuring that as many people as possible are flooded by cold water and sewage.
Let’s be clear: This policy is intended to kill. https://t.co/qeskxb89NM
— Zionism Exposed (@ZionismExposedx) November 8, 2026
Israel starts tortured process to form the next war and genocide government WSWS
***
CENTCOM Launches Task Force to Disrupt Iranian Ground Transit Routes Supporting Illegal Shipments U.S. Central Command (press release)
Iraq’s Badr bloc rejects US ‘diktats’ to close Iran border crossings Al Mayadeen
China-Iran Rail Corridor Defies Maritime Blockade WANA. From September, still germane.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says talks with Iran have not been productive, describing Tehran’s demands as “simply unacceptable” and, in some cases, “outrageous” and “ridiculous.” – Bloomberg
— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) November 8, 2026
US strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island cause no damage to vital infrastructure: Official Anadolu Agency
Why has Iran scrapped its 2000km missile range limit? New Arab
Riyadh financial district targeted, Aramco tower damaged AFP
Syria sends military advisers, trainers to Saudi Arabia to support war on Yemen: Report The Cradle
Gulf energy companies go global after security failures Semafor
Africa
US contractor gave Ethiopia secrets to help kill Tigray fighters BBC
Updates on the race to be the gateway into East and Central Africa An Africanist Perspective
Old Blighty
Revealed: how Kate Middleton was weaponised by an anti-Muslim propaganda campaign – and the trail that leads to Israel The Nerve
Gas prices rise to levels not seen since 2022: comment Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit
The Antipodes
Two numbers that explain the results of Aotearoa New Zealand’s election Free Market Moralism
David Jones collapse threatens thousands of jobs as Australian retail crisis deepens WSWS
European Disunion
Prosecutors launch terror investigation as Poland reels from fatal shootings Notes from Poland
Poland’s Ruling Liberals, Not Russia, Are Pushing Disinfo About The Kraków Killer’s Political Views Andrew Korybko
Rating agency S&P shifts Poland’s credit outlook to negative and lowers currency rating Notes from Poland
New Book Claims Macron Has Secret Escape Plan if Protesters Storm Élysée Clash Report
Germany has put the officer who built its weapons pipeline to Ukraine in charge of the whole Bundeswehr.
Christian Freuding, 55, takes over in February, as Berlin plans to spend €780bn on defence by the end of 2030 — FT. 1/ https://t.co/ZmbeCdafhu
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) November 7, 2026
This is not an actor playing WW2 German Nazi,
this Germany’s current top general, Christian Freuding
https://t.co/wM4wEXW6gJ
— Lavander72 (@108SAR) November 8, 2026
The Migration Game and the Streets of Europe Forum Geopolitica
New Not-So-Cold War
Relentless Russian Strikes Knock Out Kiev’s Power, as Iskander Missile Gouges Capital City’s North Bridge Simplicius
US Democrats Weigh $15B Ukraine Aid and Grid Backing Kyiv Post
Rosstat hack: data obtained suggests over 390,000 Russian deaths in Ukraine war Euronews
NEW!! European security officials suspect pro-Kremlin groups may be behind a wave of bomb hoaxes targeting flights airlines and newsrooms across Europe, disrupting flights and forcing evacuations.
— Alex Raufoglu (@ralexdc) November 9, 2026
The Khimprom Cartel Events in Ukraine
Anti-Russian naval group to expand in Atlantic and Arctic – FT RT
U.S., Japan and South Korea Launch Arctic Pacific Partnership Amid Continued Commercial Ties to Russia High North News
South of the Border
Drone attack on Colombian army base kills three soldiers and wounds 16 Al Jazeera
Trump 2.0
House poised to impeach Pete Hegseth after GOP midterm defeat Axios
1/ I’ll explain exactly how this happened because I’m the person at Forbes who calculates these numbers.
This is going to take some unraveling, but here’s a spoiler: The president’s answer here is nonsense.
— Dan Alexander (@DanAlexander21) November 8, 2026
2026 Post Mortem
Everybody Moves Leftward n+1
“Onward, rightward.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
Democrats Suck
Despite Midterm Win, Are Democrats About to Help GOP Pass ‘Massive Giveaway’ to Big Oil and Big Tech? Common Dreams
Trump’s $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget to Be Blocked by Democrats Bloomberg. “…Democrats are likely to only approve a figure around $1 trillion…”
HAMILTON: “I don’t think Medicare for all is the right approach. And even though it sounds great, I don’t think it’s going to pass… I think what we need to do is figure out, how do we ensure that everyone has access to affordable health care, no matter who they are? But I think even using the term Medicare for all alienates a whole group of people that we need to be able to pass some kind of health care reform that allows everyone to have affordable health care.”
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) November 8, 2026
CNN: Hakeem Jeffries responds to DSA supporters who chanted “You’re next!” at victory party
“It was very interesting to me, as observed by others, that there was almost zero diversity in that crowd.”
Link: https://t.co/kwBGnzYima https://t.co/HaftqEXeMz
— Politics Watch (@politics_watch1) November 8, 2026
Wife of Schumer’s Super PAC Chief Registers as UAE Agent Sludge
What OpenAI Having Chuck Schumer’s Daughter as a Lobbyist Tells Us Common Dreams. From September, still germane.
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Price of Empire: Why Elections Cannot End America’s Forever Wars Kautilya the Contemplator
Groves of Academe
Nearly 7 in 10 professors report being bullied, often by students over grades The Conversation
AI
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits to having an affair with suspected Chinese spy — Jensen apologizes in letter to staff, company board forms independent committee to investigate Tom’s Hardware
The Huang Affair: What did they know and when did they know it? Gary Marcus
Good for Nvidia’s board for doing an investigation. But Jensen’s behavior is only half the story.
The biggest problem remains unaddressed: the Department of Commerce has enacted policies—at the encouragement of Jensen, and which the MSS reportedly sought as well—that allow China to continue to access the most advanced Nvidia chips, including via Megaspeed. @CommerceGov leadership knew that Jensen was sleeping with a Chinese spy and that Megaspeed was a Chinese cutout, but still actively opposed any policies to tighten export controls on Nvidia chips. Why?
Commerce could have blocked chip shipments to Megaspeed the moment it found out that it was run by a Chinese spy, but it did not. Commerce has also refused to enforce regulations—which ironically remain on the books—that would require exporters to apply for a license to ship large numbers of AI chips to untrusted entities in many countries, which would prevent China from using shell companies like Megaspeed to buy controlled chips. And Commerce has done nothing to cut off China’s remote access of controlled chips, or its ability to buy controlled chips in the United States.
Why is Commerce protecting Jensen and supporting his preferred policies even though it has known for months that Jensen was sleeping with a Chinese spy? Why is it STILL doing so?
Obviously Nvidia needs to take significant steps in its operations, security, and policy advocacy to ensure it takes national security concerns more seriously. But it is even more important that the Department of Commerce tighten up export controls to prevent things like this from ever happening again. It is utterly baffling that despite being privy to this information for months, they have not taken even the most basic actions to protect the country, such as cutting off a company that is literally run by Chinese spies from buying AI chips.
By the way, as of this writing, Nvidia STILL lists Megaspeed as a “regional cloud partner” on its website.
— Chris McGuire (@ChrisRMcGuire) November 8, 2026
OCC Issues “Super Intelligence” Framework for Bank Examiners Fintech Business Weekly
Return Of The Living Dead Cast Horrified By AI-Made Sequel They Were Originally Set To Star In Kotaku
The Bezzle
RIP: Elon’s Cybertruck How to Survive the Broligarchy
Class Warfare
The Broadway Orchestra is Shrinking Can’t Get Much Higher
Federal judge allows Houston group to continue feeding homeless people in downtown Houston ABC13
The Manufactured World Black Lodges
One Nation Under the Prosperity Gospel New York Review
Believing and thinking Aeon
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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