How the brain of a fly may help explain human behaviour BBC
He Was a Washed-Up Pop Star. Now He’s Selling Out Stadiums Hosting Baby Raves. WSJ
He Was a Top Lawn Care Influencer on YouTube. Then Everything Went Haywire. New York Times Magazine
What Influencers Owe Us New York Magazine
Climate/Environment
Wildfires, heat waves threaten global efforts to improve air quality: WMO Anadolu Agency
Thousands still without power after tornadoes rip through the Detroit area KYMA Detroit
NWS suffers another nationwide comms outage during active thunderstorms Balanced Weather
Indonesia on fire as four volcanoes erupt in 24 hours Intellinews
El Niño will peak around 4°C in December, according to brand new ECMWF seasonal guidance.
After months of increasingly intense forecasts, predictions have finally leveled off — but at a record-smashing level. pic.twitter.com/NJg9WKqGGd
— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) September 5, 2026
Pandemics
The real covid-19 scandal is still unfolding The Economist
Water
You Don’t Have a Right to Safe Drinking Water, US Court Rules Mother Jones
Japan
Japan Likely Sold Treasuries to Fund Record Yen Intervention Bloomberg
China?
Why Won’t China Cut Ukraine Off From Drone-Related Sales? Andrew Korybko
In rare flurry of trips, Xi pitches China as stable alternative to U.S. under Trump WaPo
Why China’s Football Problem Is an Economic Problem | Li Xunlei Sinification
Syraqistan
Remains of 70 children among 100 Palestinians laid to rest in mass Gaza funeral The Cradle
The universe has served up more justice to Apartheid Israel than all international legal institutions combined.
5 out of 6 desalination plants in Israel have been shut down due to a sudden, massive algal bloom in the Mediterranean Sea.
It was brought on by the large amounts of… pic.twitter.com/s0pYOREOA6
— Zachary Foster (@_ZachFoster) September 4, 2026
US envoy Kushner calls Israeli government ‘a little irrational’ over Gaza TRT World
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Trump official says ‘there may not be a nuclear agreement’ with Iran Al Jazeera
Iran to declare new ‘restricted zone’ beyond Strait of Hormuz, SNSC secretary says Press TV
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6 killed as IOF pound South Lebanon, destroy hospital, strike vehicles Al Mayadeen
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Toll from Yemen clashes passes 300 as civilians flee homes AFP
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Turkish spy chief makes secretive visit to Greece amid rising tensions with Israel, report says Middle East Eye
Africa
ECOWAS, THE UNCONSTITIONAL CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT IN TOGO AND WHY AN AES UNDER ITS CURRENT LEADERSHIP, WILL NEVER RETURN TO THE ECOWAS David Asante-Darko
Old Blighty
Black-clad Dover vigilantes will return if police do not act, say campaigners The Guardian
European Disunion
AfD victory in Saxony. What will the Europhiles invent next? Il Petulante
‘Rain man’ to the rescue? France’s ex-president Hollande plots unlikely comeback France24
Kallas scraps new high-level European defense group in fresh blow to her leadership Politico
Jared Kushner can’t conquer the Balkans New Statesman
The Lucky Country
The US now has access to more than half Australia’s military bases – could it drag the country unwillingly into war? The Guardian
New Not-So-Cold War
‘The war will continue’ — US peace push fails to achieve deal after Witkoff, Kushner’s first visit to Kyiv Kyiv Independent
Dmitriev & Kushoff celebrate world’s biggest bribe — $100B of Rus Central Bank reserves to be privatized for “Ukraine reconstruction fund” with fees and 50% profit to the US “investors” – Kremlin calls it “Economic issues, including the prospects for major Russia-US projects.” pic.twitter.com/31CS4zkypn
— Dances_with_Bears (@bears_with) September 7, 2026
Missile War Monitor: Russia spares Kyiv for three days and hits everywhere else Intellinews
In Ukraine, Fraud and Waste Are Rewarded With More Weapons Contracts New York Times
Germany plans anti-drone shield over Leipzig attack — report DW
🚨Le drone de Leipzig
Voilà, le réel rattrape tout le monde une fois de plus : un homme de 48 ans, Daniel V., médecin diplômé inscrit à Gevelsberg, a envoyé des lettres manuscrites de revendication à la taz (et d’autres médias). Il dit avoir agi seul, contre « le crime » de… https://t.co/CSBiL8SYlK
— Didier Maïsto (@DidierMaisto) September 5, 2026
Do Europe’s elites want war with Russia? End of an age
Lavrov Shared Some Interesting Tidbits About Russian Policy In His Recent Interview Andrew Korybko
South of the Border
The economic “miracle” of Bukele’s family and friends Diario Socialista (Ignacio)
Trump 2.0
Republicans might still lose half the seats they gerrymandered to flip Politico
Voting Rights Groups Are Preparing to Confront ICE at the Polls Truthout
Democrats Suck
Joe Biden’s Three Genocides in Four Years, Part 1: COVID Nat Wilson Turner
Hunter Biden: ‘I may have to’ run for president in 2028 The Hill
Economy
Blind Guesses New Left Review
Here’s a list of Scott Bessent’s wrong predictions and/or promises that didn’t happen:
February 5, 2025: Long-term interest rates would come down as Trump’s economic policies took effect.
Spring 2025: The federal deficit would move toward 3% of GDP.
Spring 2025: Trump’s… https://t.co/5AGGGckJ6C
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 6, 2026
Healthcare?
Navigating the Prescription Drug Maze: Where to Find the Lowest Prices on America’s Top Prescriptions TACT
AI
Sad to see Jensen Huang claim that AGI has arrived, with no evidence and no definitions Gary Marcus
Nvidia is the central bank of AI The Economist
SpaceX building turbine blade foundry for AI data centers Quartz
The real AI jobs apocalypse Blood in the Machine
MAHA
Docs Alarmed by NIH Plan to Redirect Medical Research $$ to Pentagon MedPage Today
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Israelization of International Relations: A View from a Small Country Biljana Vankovska
Senior Fellow for Mass Murder and Colonial Relations Un-Diplomatic
Immigration
Immigration enforcement tightens squeeze on homebuilders’ job sites Housing Wire
Tech
Over 170,000 Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame? Slate. (John C): “If your business depends on a MS platform…”
Sports Desk
Mind games and a ‘toss master’: world stone skimming contest returns to Scotland after cheating scandal The Guardian
Zeitgeist Watch
This is a Costco door, and it’s increasingly standard in new build construction in the suburbs
Developers know their customer very well. https://t.co/i6vfgrMibv
— The Mind Scourge (@TheMindScourge) September 2, 2026
The Bezzle
Almost Anyone Can Make Money Selling Electricity With AI and Batteries Bloomberg
Class Warfare
Bond bust Michael Roberts
What being Mormon taught me about organizing Free Market Moralism
An elderly man living alone in Manchester wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, since the ground was hard
His only son, Paul, who used to help him, was in prison (strange ways) . The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his… pic.twitter.com/0mKXdWEZdo
— FeelGoodThoughts (@feelgoodtale) September 4, 2026
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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