Visions of Attention The Empty Cup
The phantom lighthouse: new research explains one of Australia’s strangest illusions The Conversation
A New Kind of Chemistry Construction Physics
Should Your Kids Be Born in a Pod? New Atlantis
Fire at South Carolina nuclear site triggers emergency but no contamination found outside lab, officials say CNN
“Maxxing” is the word of the year? Be serious. Who Broke It
Climate/Environment
Unprecedented multi-day record coastal flooding event seen this week in southern California and Florida Balanced Weather
Beyond the Acceleration Phase: Physical Limits and the Long-Term Warming Curve Climate Uncovered
Fire at the boundary: Airborne toxic metals from the 2025 Los Angeles urban firestorm Science
The Koreas
1/ South Korea will continue to participate in international efforts to support Ukraine, despite a diplomatic fallout with Kyiv over an alleged breach of a confidentiality agreement regarding North Korean POWs national security adviser Wi Sung-lac has said.
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) October 30, 2026
North Korea displays drones, missiles as Kim urges AI weapons push Channel News Asia
China?
Nvidia’s Huang says dealings with firm in US spy probe were ‘normal’: Report Channel News Asia
India
Why India’s ethanol push is not benefitting farmers Scroll
War-Torn Europe Propels Resurgent Indian Defense Industry Bloomberg
Syraqistan
Israeli strikes hit Gaza as Health Ministry urges Rafah opening Al Jazeera
Netanyahu accused of seeking new election and renewed war on Iran TRT World
“Sound and fury in Israel.” Patrick Lawrence
This Cannot Last Craig Murray
Hegseth fires Pentagon’s top war planner amid preparations to reignite war on Iran The Cradle
Top Military Admiral Briefs Trump on Iran Options WSJ
US reportedly links Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon to normalisation Arab Weekly
Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation surges despite Taliban govt ban: UN AFP
Africa
Ethiopia Gets 12 Russian Su-35 Fighters, Eyes S-400 Air Defenses TWZ
Old Blighty
A statement in response to Andreas Malm being denied entry into the United Kingdom Verso
Two companies backed by the Government’s AI Sovereign Fund were given seed investment by the Managing Partner’s previous Venture Capital firm Citizens Reunited
European Disunion
Lagarde’s early exit Le Pen-proofs ECB as France veers toward a debt reckoning Politico
Anyone else getting hostage video vibes from this? https://t.co/yMEtFIh4ZR
— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) October 30, 2026
Massive influence campaign floods France with racist ads, months before 2027 presidential election Le Monde “…strong evidence pointing to an Israeli private-sector origin.”
French economy contracts 0.1% in 3rd quarter as investment, exports fall Anadolu Agency
Serbia After the Student Landslide: The Black Box in Parliament No Cold War
Belgium to vote on ‘ICE-style’ home raids targeting undocumented migrants New Arab
New Not-So-Cold War
Global death squads Events in Ukraine
Enter Endgame: Russia Asks the West — We Win or WW3? Multipolar Press
Exclusive-Pentagon Tells Europeans to Cool Their Rhetoric on Russia, Sources Say Reuters
South of the Border
Bolivian Attorney General Was Arrested After Investigating Trump-Aligned Operative Drop Site
Teachers in Peru Join National Strike Despite Threats of Pay Deductions TeleSur
Brazil’s climate policies to face more challenges in Lula’s next term Gas Outlook
Trump 2.0
A 28-Year-Old DOGE Operative Gutted USAID. HR Had No Record of Him Working There Wired
Midterms 2026
Exclusive: National Guard Mobilizes for Election Ken Klippenstein
Republicans have knives out for Peltola as Democrats largely silent The Hill
Severe weather expected on Election Day in several key states The Hill
Democrats Suck
Why aren’t Democrats talking about climate? HEATED
Economy
Real GDP Growth Accelerates to 3.4 Percent in the Third Quarter Mish Talk
Nat Gas Is $3 In America And $31 In Europe, Who Keeps The Money This Winter? Merchant’s News
The Tanker Tycoon’s WhatsApps Driving a Disputed Oil Benchmark Bloomberg
Europe to Release 42 Million Barrels of Oil OilPrice
Imperial Collapse Watch
Why is the Navy spending $19 billion on ‘flying gas stations’? Responsible Statecraft
The Useful and the Just Laura Ruggeri
How To Make Permanent War Irreversible Un-Diplomatic
Desperately Seeking Fascism. Aurelien
Mr. Market
Alphabet loses $482 billion in market value, the biggest drop in its history Yahoo! Finance
Tech Makes a Mess as Wrinkles Start to Show. Markets Are Edgy Now, Aren’t They? Wolf Street
Asian tech stocks slump as AI rout deepens on disappointing U.S. earnings Investing.com
Police State Watch
ICE Built a Shadow Army of Local Cops. Now It’s Paying $60,000 a Head. Migrant Insider
KARE 11 Investigates: Private prison was on sale for $75 million; ICE paid $495 million KARE11
Agriculture
New World screwworm spreads to Arizona and is found in a cat in New Mexico CIDRAP
Crapification
Please Let the Internet Die Wired
AI
Manifestos, Fear, and ‘Loser Thinking’: Inside Proton’s AI Reckoning 404 Media
Agentic AI is myth set in motion Programmable Mutter
Bank of America kindly asks that you don’t share your banking password with your AI assistant TechCrunch
The Bezzle
Binance Suspends Transactions as It Probes What May Be Biggest-Ever Crypto Heist WSJ
Polymarket Halted International Trading After Hackers Drained Accounts Wired
Trump’s CTFC Steps in to Defend Kalshi as Utah Brings Criminal Charges Against Execs Gizmodo
Class Warfare
DoorDash’s $17B Acquisition of Instacart Points to a World Without Employees Lee Hepner, BIG by Matt Stoller
Staring at a Rotten Shingle Hickman’s Hinterlands
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
By
