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Holes in condoms may have contributed to baby boom Expressen via machine translation (Micael T)
Experiment with Everything Forking Paths (Micael T)
Queen Elizabeth I Owned Two Thousand Dresses. Only a Scrap of One Remains. Vanity Fair (Micael T)
Selection Effects Explain the Catholic Miracle Cluster Bentham’s Bulldog (Micael T)
Stopping Ozempic may raise heart attack and stroke risk Science Daily (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
*Earth’s Warmest Months in Millenia*
Global Temperature Anomalies may reach +2°C this winter (above pre-industrial levels) for the first time in modern history, and very likely in over 100,000 years, before the last ice age. The graph below shows the forecast from the World’s best computer models from many different nations. The ensemble mean peak month is 1.97, but this only goes through February. March may be even warmer.
They show it’s virtually certain Earth will break a record for its warmest month (and year in 2027) due to a boost from the most powerful #ElNino on record, on top of long term global warming. While 2C briefly tops the 2nd Paris Agreement threshold, it’s not considered a real breach. That’s because once El Niño weakens global temps will settle back down – BUT not all the way. So in that way Earth’s fever continues to rise step by step.— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) September 18, 2026
Exxon Sounds Alarm Coal Use Is Accelerating Global Warming Bloomberg
Burning forests, emptying rivers, €180bn in damage: Europe’s politicians face reckoning after ‘summer of truth Guardian
At some point we’re going to have to react’: How El Niño, climate change, and crime are pushing the Amazon rainforest over the brink LiveScience
Water
Shock Downpour Sends Water Torrenting into the Uffizi, Threatening Masterworks ArtForum
Lake Mead plunges to historic low as water levels continue to fall Fox
China?
Three Ts will dominate Trump‑Xi summit – but expect little movement on trade, less on Taiwan and who knows on tech The Conversation (Kevin W). Not sure this list is correct. Trump is sure to press Xi on Iran. Of course, Xi probably will deflect. I particularly like a Chinese saying he has invoked before which goes more or less like: “The person who put the bell on the tiger is the one who must take it off.”
China boosts crude oil, LNG imports from Canada as Ottawa-Washington relations sour South China Morning Post
Extreme rainfall caused by climate change creates uneven risks to Chinese farming Manchester
New Zealand naval ships transit contested Taiwan Strait Japan Times
Taiwan says it does ‘not yet’ have sufficient arms to defend itself as China ramps up pressure Sky
Koreas
North Korea fires two ballistic missiles into the sea in latest weapons display France24
09/20/2026 AWAN Korea Reportback YouTube. Robin K: “Video report by the Anti-war Action Network on the situation of North Korea.”
Japan
Bank of Japan hikes interest rates to 31-year high as world embarks on ‘global tightening cycle’ News.com.au
Japan-China ties wither as Trump readies red carpet for Xi Jinping Asia Times
Southeast Asia
Drought forces Cambodian farmers to cut corn acreage UkrAgroConsult
India
Why a new Pakistan-China border pact has irked India BBC
India must face up to the fact that the Himalayas are on their deathbed and understand what happens if those mountains die FirstPost
India’s rice output faces biggest drop in two decades Free Malaysia Today
Africa
Ethiopian armed groups forge alliance against government Aljazeera
Thousands flee North Kordofan town as Sudan army advances, RSF raids gold mine Sudan Tribune
Death toll passes 100 soldiers in Mali attack last week Standard Media
South of the Border
U.S. Meddling In Brazilian Elections, Preparing For Possible Military Intervention Soverignista (Robin K)
O Canada
Trump tariffs hit Canada’s dairy farmers as US sales stall Aljazeera
European Disunion
Europe’s Winter Electricity Prices Surge 60% Year-on-Year as Energy Shock Returns to Inflation Forefront Biggo Finance
Volkswagen ejected from European blue-chip index in blow to crisis-hit carmaker Financial Times
France debt set for highest level since 1978 as fiscal strain grows Euronews
Tous les facteurs d’une crise agricole majeure sont en train de se conjuger.
La situation hydrique en France se détériore rapidement, au point de compromettre les semis d’automne et d’hiver. C’est indiscutable : sur 95 % du territoire, l’indice hydrique des sols atteint 0 % dans les neuf premiers centimètres (carte de droite). Les horizons superficiels sont totalement desséchés, rendant les conditions de germination et de levée particulièrement défavorables.
Et les perspectives météorologiques n’offrent guère de répit : aucune pluie véritablement efficace n’est attendue à l’échelle nationale avant le 27 septembre au plus tôt (carte de gauche).
Je ne sais pas si vous mesurez pleinement ce qui est en train de se jouer. Nous assistons à une convergence de facteurs susceptibles de provoquer une grave crise agricole et alimentaire :
➡️ L’énergie : des coûts énergétiques élevés qui fragilisent les exploitations agricoles et renchérissent les coûts de production, de transformation et de transport.
➡️ La géopolitique : des tensions internationales croissantes qui accentuent l’incertitude sur les marchés agricoles, énergétiques et alimentaires.
➡️ Le climat : cinq mois de conditions climatiques particulièrement éprouvantes, qui ont déjà lourdement affecté les récoltes de 2026. Désormais, la sécheresse se prolonge jusqu’aux semis des cultures qui seront récoltées en 2027. Nous ne parlons donc plus seulement des conséquences sur une campagne agricole, mais d’un risque de transmission des difficultés d’une année à l’autre.
➡️ El Niño : le réchauffement des eaux du Pacifique équatorial constitue un facteur de risque supplémentaire pour les productions agricoles mondiales. Selon son intensité et son évolution, il pourrait perturber les régimes de précipitations de plusieurs grandes régions productrices, avec des répercussions possibles sur les récoltes et les prix alimentaires internationaux.J’observe les crises climatiques, je les analyse et je les documente depuis des années. Mais aujourd’hui, nous entrons dans une multicrise.
Une situation où les crises climatiques, agricoles, énergétiques et géopolitiques ne se succèdent plus, mais se superposent, interagissent et amplifient mutuellement leurs conséquences.
Le danger ne réside plus seulement dans la gravité de chaque crise prise isolément, mais dans leur accumulation et leurs effets en cascade. Et c’est précisément ce qui rend la situation actuelle particulièrement préoccupant…
— Dr. Serge Zaka (Dr. Zarge) (@SergeZaka) September 18, 2026
Swiss agricultural cooperative pays farms CHF7.2m drought relief SwissInfo
Trump declares victory in Greenland, but the deal exposes a deeper crisis of trust The Conversation
Sweden: Social Democracy Won the Century and Lost the Future Jacobin (Robin K)
Old Blighty
How would you prepare for an emergency? How would you cope? And what about your relatives, friends, neighbours and colleagues? BBC
Patients died in ‘suffocating’ heatwave conditions on NHS wards, nurses say Sky
Starmerism: An Autopsy Neal Lawson (Irvine Henry)
Israel v. The Resistance
Israel can blow up an entire neighborhood in Lebanon without generating any headlines in Western media.
They want you to believe this is normal.
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 21, 2026
What I Learned From Watching NAZA Peter Beinart (Robin K)
Saudi Arabia is nearing the point of no return – and Israel is waiting for it RT (Kevin W)
Iran War (includes Saudi-Houthi conflict)
Hormuz crisis puts Qatar’s LNG expansion on hold Middle East Online
Big winners in Iran War shipping mess: oil tankers making $1 million a day, and Chinese shipyards Kevin Walmsley
Inside Somaliland: How Berbera Port is central to the Red Sea’s power struggle Middle East Eye
Explosion reported near Erbil airport hosting US troops Turkiye Today
Yemen’s resistance forces gain strategic hold over Red Sea port and coastline The Communists (Robin K)
Syraqistan
Massive explosions at Syrian army weapons depot near Aleppo Aljazeera
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia’s new air campaign seeks to destroy Ukrainian economy Financial Times
Brief Frontline Report – September 21st, 2026 Marat Khairullin
Bunker mentality: the Nordics’ cold war shelters being given a new lease of life Guardian
Ukraine veterans yearn for days of ‘meat grinder’ war Telegraph
Imperial Collapse Watch
How to Survive in a World Without Rules Foreign Policy (Dr. Kevin)
Dangerous logic behind America’s emerging nuclear war strategy Asia Times (Kevin W)
Insider Trading Proves 9/11 Foreknowledge Kit Klarenberg (Micael T). The truthers lost this argument and no amount of relitigating will change consensus views. But that does not change that they can point to some pretty disturbing data points
House Defies Automakers and Mandates AM Radio in New Cars Wall Street Journal (Micael T)
Our No Longer Free Press
Networks pull out of White House TV pool in solidarity with CNN The Hill
Talk about backfire.
Here’s Trump‘s event right now at the White House. Newsmax is covering it, but they can’t hear what he’s saying because the entire press Pool boycotted him for banning CNN, politico and MSnow.
Trump is silenced by the very people he tried to silence.…
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) September 21, 2026
AI
Data centers are eating up steel. Developers are now looking at timber. Construction Dive (Micael T)
AI: EU Member States plan “digital expropriation” of Europeans in the interest of AI companies noyb (Paul R)
Economy
Airlines cut back holiday flights as jet fuel prices soar NBC
Why the world is ‘freaking out’ about diesel Telegraph
Running Out of Options: Conflict Restricts Saudi Oil Exports Maritime Executive
Trump’s Diesel Alibi: Blaming Kyiv for a Crisis Made in the Gulf Sonar 21 (Kevin W)
‘Crisis even bigger than Covid’: American business owners are barely getting by CNN
The Next Inflation Shock: $1 Million-a-Day Oil Tankers Bloomberg
Canaries in the coal mine: The everyday supermarket foods that tell us food shortages are coming Independent
The Other Hormuz: Black Sea Blockade Threatens a Food Supply Shock Bloomberg
Mr. Market Is Chewing His Knuckles
Are global stock markets heading for a crash Guardian
Class Warfare
The US has essentially stopped building small/starter homes. https://t.co/OM9LaLkVK4
— Hunter📈🌈📊 (@StatisticUrban) September 16, 2026
Airbnb Housing Accelerator AirBnB. Micael T: “Bring out your garlic, spikes, silver bullets and anything that kills this kind of monster.”
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus (Robin K):
Can’t stop watching.. 😅 https://t.co/oFFMeR4gsf
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 19, 2026
A second bonus:
They say cats are sensitive to aluminum foil because of its unexpected texture, slippery feel, and the high-pitched crinkling noise it makes when they touch it.
But knowing cats, there must be something more!😅 pic.twitter.com/GGFR5VTAkL
— The Internet of Cats 🐈🐈⬛ (@KittiesInternet) September 19, 2026
And a third:
He sang for a family of elephants. Watch their reaction
[📹 plumesofficiel] pic.twitter.com/VUDj7nENQV
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 20, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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