For the love of books, snow – and Dolly Balanced Weather
Cyclospora outbreak is crimping produce sales, data shows Food Dive
Ancient dental calculus reveals diverse diets of commoners in premodern Osaka, Japan, the ‘Kitchen of the Realm’ EurekAlert!
Human Unpredictability is Overrated Cliodynamica by Peter Turchin
Climate/Environment
Nepal’s Deadly Flood Started With a 2,000-Foot Chunk of Glacier: Scientists Are Still Piecing Together Why International Business Times
Devastating CCTV footage from the Chinese side of the Nepal-China border shows the massive flood sweeping through the area with incredible force, giving a stark glimpse of how suddenly it was struck. pic.twitter.com/s2eVfOzd7G
— Everest Today (@EverestToday) August 26, 2026
The Velocity Hazard – Why the Rate of Warming Trumps Absolute Temperature Thresholds Climate Uncovered
Thousands of Gary residents without power for 2 weeks are breathing sigh of relief Fox 32 Chicago. Would probably be bigger story if not for fact Gary is one of the poorest cities in the country.
Pandemics
Conservation Bio: Emerging threat of avian influenza to the world’s vultures Avian Flu Diary
Water
‘Forever chemicals’ surge during pilot of Thames Water plan to combat drought The Guardian
Carbon emissions exacerbating the Western US water crisis Communications Earth & Environment
Japan
Japan Energy Plan Seeks to Back Pipelines Bypassing Hormuz Bloomberg
China?
US Justice Department seizes domains it says Chinese state-sponsored hackers used to infiltrate systems at NASA, Senate, Federal Reserve, and more — FBI moves forward with domain seizures Tom’s Hardware
China’s top diplomat flags problems in US relations ahead of Xi visit DPA International
To be one of the world’s largest polyethylene and polypropylene-producing plants:
Massive explosion at joint China-Russian Natural Gas chemical plant in Russia’s Far East pic.twitter.com/6JSVn0Zkep
— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) August 26, 2026
Syraqistan
Palestinian children return to school under threat of Israel demolition Al Jazeera
Jewish Space Lasers? Israel Wants ‘Rods From God’ Haaretz
***
Iran, Oman advance on Hormuz as Islamabad MOU regains attention Amwaj
Pakistan says it expects US answer on $10bn stabilization facility ‘within months’ The Cradle
Syrian Kurdish leader announces SDF dissolution after its integration into army France24
A Changing Geography of U.S. Sanctions in the Middle East and Africa Sawahil
Trump sends Saudi civil nuclear agreement to Congress for review France24
O Canada
From live snails to lawn mowers: Canada’s most unexpected targets in its US tariff response Firstpost
Old Blighty
Germany in talks to help fund Trident The Telegraph
European Disunion
US review of its force posture in Europe aims to advance ‘NATO 3.0’: Pentagon official Anadolu Agency
EU countries face nearly €41bn in extra fossil fuel costs as Hormuz crisis exposes energy vulnerability Euronews
New Not-So-Cold War
CIA Chief’s Surprise Moscow Trip Was to Warn Russia Not to Attack NATO WSJ
Secretary of War Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Caine, and CIA Director Ratcliffe leave the West Wing following a meeting at the White House. Ratcliffe returned from Russia late last night. pic.twitter.com/9p7PTtfE2X
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) August 26, 2026
❗️Eight people were injured in Donetsk after Ukrainian Armed Forces struck the “Donetsk City” shopping center area with Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG missiles, — Denis Pushilin, head of the DPR
Among the injured are two girls born in 2010 and 2016, three women, and three men. Three more… pic.twitter.com/Oz6G9QQtFa
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) August 26, 2026
Andy Burnham is warned that Britain faces impending Russian ‘attack’ over its support for Ukraine Daily Mail
Ukraine under fire but European anti-missile system faces delays Euractiv
🇺🇸🇺🇦 Hillary Clinton on says the only way for Trump to end the war in Ukraine is to go all in and “much more forcefully” fund the Ukrainians to fight Russia
She claims he won’t do that because of Putin’s “hold” on Trump pic.twitter.com/qPldtks9c2
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) August 26, 2026
L’affaire Epstein
‘Meritless:’ Judge rejects Maxwell’s claim to toss her prison sentence Miami Herald
South of the Border
Venezuela: Opposition Lawmaker Ecarri Proposes Dollarization Plan Venezuelanalysis
The Neverending ‘Global War on Terror’
Accused 9/11 mastermind, 3 co-defendants to stand trial in 2028 Anadolu Agency
Trump 2.0
Conservative-leaning coalition raises alarm over Trump’s political weaponization of ICE All-Source Intelligence
ICE investigators want to buy voter data from every state Project Salt Box
Waffle House Teleporter Gregg Phillips Is Still on the Trump Administration’s Payroll Wired
Democrats Suck
How Corporate PAC Money Gets to Democrats Who Swore It Off NOTUS
Economy
Fossil fuel import bills surge over $330 billion in six months since Hormuz crisis: CREA Down to Earth
Functional Unemployment Up for Fourth Consecutive Month, Says Ludwig Institute Ludwig Institute
Trump-GOP Budget Law Pushes SNAP Enrollment to 17-Year Low as Millions Lose Aid Common Dreams
Healthcare?
As states tighten oversight, private equity’s healthcare deals decline Stateline
Imperial Collapse Watch
Trump’s Third-Worldism Unpopular Front
The Everything Shortage The Merchant’s News
Castles Made of Sand Can We Still Govern?
AI
Nvidia gave its first-ever year-ahead forecast—a 70% growth bombshell meant to silence AI bubble critics and ‘circular financing’ doomsayers Fortune
Nvidia Reportedly Stops Flirting With Hugging Face and Just Buys It Gizmodo
The multiplying risks of financing data centres FT
The Only Kill Switch We’ve Got Labor Politics
Inside the Warehouse Where Amazon Scans and Destroys Books for AI Training 404 Media
Why Amazon Is Building One of the Largest Solar Projects in America Distilled
The Accelerationists
Louisiana completes massive giveaway of sensitive land to Elon Musk Oligarch Watch
Supply Chain
Loosening Beijing’s global graphite grip Metal Tech News
A kitchen blender helped scientists make graphene from electronic waste Interesting Engineering
Chokepoints
Panama Canal Auction Hits New Record at $5.3 Million Bloomberg
Police State Watch
What every failing regime does after suffering humiliating defeat in war: wage a new war on invented domestic enemies who can’t defend themselves https://t.co/m8mZz052bp
— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) August 26, 2026
Tech
Meta’s $18B child-safety deal hinges on age-verification tech that doesn’t work well TechCrunch
Groves of Academe
Documents Reveal Trail of Unreported Millions From Israeli Military to U.S. Universities Drop Site
Mr. Market
Bessent, Warsh diverge on who should set the price of money Reuters
Guillotine Watch
California man who brought guillotine to US Capitol grounds pleads not guilty The Guardian
The Bezzle
Lab supply companies have been selling antibodies using manipulated images Ars Technica
Class Warfare
What happened to North Hollywood’s Star Garden, the nation’s only unionized strip club? Los Angeles Public Press
Care Black Lodges
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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