The first marine fish driven to extinction by humans BBC (Robin K)
The fermented crescent aeon (Anthony L)
1st wheel was invented 6,000 years ago in the Carpathian Mountains, modeling study suggests LiveScience (Kevin W)
Spin the 17th-Century Death Roulette Wheel & Find Out What Would Have Killed You in 1665 Open Culture (Micael T)
The deadly plants hiding in your garden BBC (Dr. Kevin)
‘And You a Catholic!’ Commonweal Magazine. Anthony L: “Evelyn Waugh – and, if they haven’t fixed it – he is pictured at birth…”
Srinivasa Ramanujan Was a Genius. Math Is Still Catching Up. Quanta Magazine (Anthony L)
#COVID-19
UConn Keeping Air in Connecticut Classrooms Safe UConn Today (Carla R)
Climate/Environment
Some wildfires grow twice as fast as they did two decades ago New Scientist
China?
Record Defaults Hit $800 Billion Chinese Municipal Debt Market Bloomberg
Huawei uses TSMC loophole to bypass US chip ban Asia Times (Kevin W)
Chinese EV battery maker SVOLT to shut European operations Nikkei
Chinese blockade would be act of war, Taiwan says Reuters. Let us not forget how few countries recognize Taiwan and what pipsqueaks they are.
American views of China hit record low, poll finds, as animosity grows Washington Post
Argentina plunged into recession as Milei’s government imposes drastic budget cuts France 24
European Disunion
Eurozone PMI remains in contraction territory as ECB considers pace of rate cuts Think.ing
Riots rock Lisbon after police shoot a Black man dead LeMonde
Under Far-Right Pressure, Bulgaria Scraps Child Refugee Shelters Ahead Of Key Elections Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe
Old Blighty
Rachel Reeves will change debt rules to free up £50bn in borrowing The Times
Shoplifting offences in England and Wales at highest level on record, ONS figures show Guardian
Utterly unsustainable’: Homelessness in London at highest level on record Big Issue
Israel v. The Resistance
The Israel Defense Force has confirmed the start of Offensive Operations against Iran. pic.twitter.com/g5vtzRtVM9
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 25, 2024
Israel announces start of attacks against ‘military targets’ in Iran Anadolu Agency
Live: Israel attacks Iran, sound of explosions heard near Tehran Aljazeera
Iranian Air Defence systems at work east of Tehran 🇮🇷 pic.twitter.com/mwsmM14m27
— 𝐄𝐡𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐣𝐚𝐝 🇮🇷🇵🇸 (@Safarnejad_IR) October 26, 2024
The PMO releases an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and military officials at the IDF’s underground HQ amid the strikes on Iran.
Always underground funny.. no? Meanwhile things are almost back to normal in tehran. Reports indicate that… pic.twitter.com/247cITQzfp
— Hafsa H Malik (@kashmiricanibal) October 26, 2024
BREAKING: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
Netanyahu and Gallant are currently in an underground bunker at the Ministry of Defense headquarters. They moved to this secure location during Israel’s attack on Iran.
The IDF claimed they targeted military sites in Iran.
The White House was… pic.twitter.com/cszfdl6owL
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) October 26, 2024
🚨🇮🇱🇯🇴 BREAKING: JORDAN reportedly allowed ISRAELI FIGHTER JETS to pass through its airspace. pic.twitter.com/1jvr7QNkEf
— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) October 26, 2024
Yemen’s Houthis Dig In for a Long War Shujaib Almosama, DropSite
* * * Hezbollah proving a formidable foe against Israeli forces in Lebanon Washington Post
* * * ❗️”A huge squadron of at least 12 US Air Force KC-135 tanker aircraft is heading to the Middle East, indicating the serious scale of events being prepared in the region
The US Army Central Command has just reported that US Air Force F-16 fighters from the 480th Fighter Squadron,… pic.twitter.com/72HvSepdE3
— Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) October 25, 2024
#Israel doesn’t have enough refuelling plans for the large number of jets expected to be involved in the attack on #Iran. So the #US is effectively taking part in the attack. Nothing unusual.https://t.co/dAIirYha81
— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) October 25, 2024
The chatter is intensifying once more that an Israeli attack on Iran with significant US involvement and support is imminent, potentially within the next few hours.
While the current chatter about a potential Israeli attack on Iran is at a high, it’s important to remember that… pic.twitter.com/KQbHbmQG7J
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) October 25, 2024
EU ‘neglects’ international law, maintains trade with illegal Israeli settlements The Cradle (Kevin W)
New Not-So-Cold War
Why Did Iran And Russia Punt On Strategic Partnership? Are North Koreans In The War? Mark Sleboda and Jamarl Thomas
South Korea vows response to North Korea bolstering Putin’s forces: ‘We won’t sit idle’ Independent. Sleboda above (and Douglas Macgregor Larry Johnson and no doubt others independent media type) have debunked the claim that North Korea is providing forces to Russia’s military (Russia has long had some training programs for North Korea and the two countries have engaged in joint exercises). Sleboda argues that this is a disinfo operation to get South Korea to send F-35 pilots to Romania to fly the planes into Ukraine. He also goes through the text of the stories and explains how the headline claims are not substantiated.
Britain and Germany sign new defence agreement as Ukraine tensions rise Reuters
Syraqistan
Turkey strikes more targets in Iraq and Syria after several killed in Ankara ‘terror attack’ Sky
BRICS
HSBC Hong Kong joins China’s alternative to Swift global payments system Financial Times
Russia in talks with BRICS over precious metals exchange Reuters
“What is amazing is that this ‘tyranny’ called Russia has you walking around the corridors smearing Russia”
George Galloway obliterates Sky News presstitute at BRICS summitpic.twitter.com/jSJsjIU2rr
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) October 25, 2024
Imperial Collapse Watch
F-35’s Ascent and Nosedive: Costliest Weapon in History Hits Fresh Turbulence in Damning GAO Report Sputnik (Anthony L)
G20 vows to resist protectionism ahead of U.S. presidential election Kyodo News
Trump
Tucker Carlson frames Trump as America’s abusive dad in disturbing speech MSNBC (furzy)
Kamala
EXCLUSIVE: I can reveal Harris was in advanced talks w/ Rogan on joining the podcast this morning, spending TH night in ATX, taping today & then going to HOU. Advance was preparing & local law enforcement was notified.
Trump agreed to no limits on Rogan podcast. Harris wouldn’t.
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) October 25, 2024
REPORTER: What do you say to Americans who think you need to focus more on the economy?
KAMALA: “One of the things that I love about the American people is we can hold many thoughts at once.”
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 25, 2024
2024
Russia and Iran may fuel violent post-election protests in the US, intelligence officials warn Associated Press. See Taibbi’s post-election crackdown piece (linked further down)
People in Washington Are Fleeing Town for Election Day Politico
A judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations purged ahead of the election Associated Press (Kevin W)
What the list of mysterious deaths in the Clinton family has to do with the US election Anti-Spiegel (Micael T)
Our No Longer Free Press
Washington Post reels from Bezos decision to not endorse The Hill. Not that we have any specific insight re Bezos, but well-connected sources have told us of a big shift among Silicon Valley squillionaires against Team Dem. Some of it was due to Biden’s decrepit state, but another big driver was the Trump lawfare, particularly the New York records case, which based on the line of questioning by appeals court jurists, looks like the odds are good of being reversed.
LA Times editor quits after Harris endorsement blocked RT (Anthony L)
Note On The Washington Post’s Non-Endorsement Matt Taibbi (KLG)
Patrick Soon-Shiong: the billionaire LA Times owner who blocked Harris endorsement Guardian
Note this piece launched just as the Post made its announcement: Uh, Oh: New York Times, Washington Post Signal Post-Election Crackdown Matt Taibbi
Almost anything goes on social media — as long as it doesn’t make billionaires feel even a little bit unsafe CNN. Paul R: “Pretty edgy headline considering it’s CNN.”
AI
Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity promote scientific racism in AI search results ars technica (Paul R)
AI decodes oinks and grunts to keep pigs happy Reuters (Dr. Kevin)
Class Warfare
50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says CBS. Paul R: “Will wonders never cease.”
The Math Says It’s Getting Harder to Break Into the American Middle Class Bloomberg (Micael T)
US Consumer Watchdog Cautions Businesses on Surveillance of Workers Wall Street Journal
Spirit AeroSystems weighs hundreds more furloughs or layoffs if Boeing strike goes beyond Nov. 25 CNBC (Kevin W)
EviCore, the Company Helping U.S. Health Insurers Deny Coverage for Treatments ProPublica (Robin K). From earlier in the week, still germane.
Antidote du jour. Timotheus: “Seagulls at Lake Erie’s Headlands Beach State Park (Ohio)”
And a bonus (guurst):
うまうま🐸✨#ミツヅノコノハガエル pic.twitter.com/UkJisbbHOX
— MOMOSHIVA (@MOMOSHIVA) October 15, 2024
A second bonus:
These ducks are having a better summer than we are 😭😀 pic.twitter.com/Wds8tJ5hju
— why you should have an animal (@shouldhaveanima) October 26, 2024
Yet another bonus:
Halloween costumes for dogs
The last one is epic
pic.twitter.com/gHHLdmBUzX— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) October 24, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
