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Human brain is two separate organs, Stanford Medicine-led research finds Stanford Medicine
The Temporal Disjunctures of Post-Fordism Indications
Scientists Create New Humanoid Robot That Flinches in Fear When You Come Close Futurism
Climate/Environment
Satellites show Earth lost more than 12 trillion tons of ice from Greenland, Antarctica in 47 years Phys.org
‘Post-Disaster Gentrification’ Proliferates in Florida Towns as Costs Soar Following Hurricanes Inside Climate News
Nepal isn’t the only disaster‑struck country waiting for money from the global climate Loss and Damage Fund The Conversation
Hormuz Crisis to Push Global Coal Demand to Record High OilPrice
How Saudi oil scientists ended up working on the world’s most important climate reports The Guardian
Pandemics
Associations between self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infections and the diagnosis of new health condition Canada Communicable Disease Report
China?
🚨 China is pivoting back to coal to hedge against growing energy security threats.
In an unusual joint move, the NDRC, NEA, and NMSA have issued a sweeping notice ordering key provinces to maximise stable coal production.
Here is what is driving Beijing’s strategy🧵🇨🇳⛏️🏭👇 pic.twitter.com/nCunU24Tw4
— Francesco Sassi (@Frank_Stones) September 18, 2026
Chinese rare earth shipments to US drop ahead of Trump-Xi summit FT
U.S. proposes exchanging AI safety alerts with China, Bessent says NBC News
Would Beijing Accept Taiwan on These Terms? Pekingnology
I Went to Kyrgyzstan to Find China’s Silent Nomads ChinaTalk
India
The Looming Energy and Water Burden of India’s Data Centres The India Forum
Syraqistan
Israeli extremists storm al-Aqsa compound hours after Netanyahu enters East Jerusalem New Arab
***
Trump said to call off strikes on Houthis for now Azernews
Trump on Iran: ‘My question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up?’ The Hill
US says ‘door is open’ for Iran to return to negotiations Anadolu Agency
Iranian army says it received intel of imminent US attacks backed by regional states The Cradle
***
(Ruben):
🇸🇾 BREAKING: ANOTHER ammo depot blows up in Syria, this one located in al-Eiss, south of Aleppo.
Numerous secondary explosions were observed. pic.twitter.com/1xvPqxrp8Y
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) September 20, 2026
Reports that gunfire led to the destruction of this oil tanker, now burning on the M4 highway.. Syria is being plunged into greater chaos. The hungry, the deprived and the subjugated population are protesting but this has the ring of orchestrated violence. This would permit… pic.twitter.com/BN3hz7AKlS
— Vanessa Beeley (@VanessaBeeley) September 20, 2026
Africa
Trump’s war on Huawei spreads through Africa Intellinews
European Disunion
Germany’s Merz battles for survival as far-right AfD scores big in 2 state elections Firstpost
Germany’s Central Council of Jews opposes Left Party-led government in state of BerlinAnadolu Agency
Europe jet fuel imports rise as Q4 supply deficit deepens Traders Union
France debt set for highest level since 1978 as fiscal strain grows Euronews
Moody’s cuts Poland’s credit rating to lowest level since 2002 Notes From Poland
Burning forests, emptying rivers, €180bn in damage: Europe’s politicians face reckoning after ‘summer of truth’ The Guardian
O Canada
The Liberservative Party of Canada Canadian Affairs
Old Blighty
Inside Britain’s failing Foreign Office, why have Ministers lost control? Ian Proud
The Cat Liam Mullany. Reflections on the UK legal system from one of the Filton25 defendants.
New Not-So-Cold War
What’s really interesting about this post by Zelensky is that he listed all the systems that have been used in this mass attack on Moscow.
Some of these are assembled domestically, but others are made in various European countries, such as Denmark, Germany, and Lithuania.
On… https://t.co/G9nqLCnzkn pic.twitter.com/7nDs8Y4PpN
— Olga Bazova (@OlgaBazova) September 20, 2026
War may be coming. Are we psychologically ready? BBC. (Robin): “They’re determined to talk themselves into war with Russia.”
The impending war Il Petulante
Ukraine’s Naftogaz, Hungary’s MOL agree to develop fuel storage near border Hromadske
Trump signs off on Russia sanctions ‘from hell’: Who could get hit? RT
Trump to meet with Zelensky as Russia-Ukraine attacks intensify Axios
THE US AND NATO ATTACK RUSSIAN VOTERS – RAISE TURNOUT, REDUCE OPPOSITION VOTE John Helmer
South of the Border
Cuba suffers grid collapse, as US sanctions block humanitarian and critical supplies WSWS
The Wealthy Miami Residents Who Are Plotting Cuba’s Future WSJ
Trump 2.0
Trump asked budget chief to draft order bringing health research funding under his control Politico
Trump Greenland Deal Panned as ‘Largely a Rebranding of the Status Quo to Claim a Win’ Common Dreams
U.S.-listed Greenland stocks surge after Trump announces security deal with Denmark CNBC
Trump Ramps Up Bid to Dismantle International Criminal Court WSJ
Trump says triumphal arch to be used for snipers, drones The Hill
It’s Donald Trump Versus MAGA on Data Centers Wired
Trump and sons invest heavily in AI economy as he resists calls for slowdown WaPo
Democrats Suck
Arab Americans Feel Betrayed After Michigan Grants $1 Million to Israeli Military Contractor Truthout
Police State Watch
ICE officer shoots, injures man in Austin, officials say Texas tribune
ICE plans intel units in every field office to research immigrants, map who they know Project Salt Box
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
How to kick Flock out of your town Blood in the Machine
Groves of Academe
American universities were unraveling long before Gaza Radical Books Collective
The Accelerationists
The sci-fi fantasy behind the Artificial State, and why it can still be dismantled Indian Express
Sports Desk
Monopoly Round-Up: Why the Senate Is Weirdly Obsessed with College Sports Instead of Real Problems Matt Stoller
Economy
US Housing Costs Rise Further Out of Reach Ahead of Midterms Bloomberg
Chokepoints
Energy Giants Are Betting Billions on a World of Longer Oil Routes OilPrice
Immigration
Banished to alien lands: Trump’s secret deportation deals The Guardian
Imperial Collapse Watch
Un-American Violence Antagonisms of the Everyday: Philosophy, Culture, Politics
Stop Psychoanalyzing Empire BettBeat
“What are the sources of our dignity?” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
AI
Introducing the Atlas of Data Center Politics Techno-Statecraft
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say CNN
AI Was Supposed to Perfect Authoritarian Control. Repression Is Getting in the Way. The Good Society. Now do what’s getting in the way in the democratic West?
Class Warfare
Is Anxiety Just the Price of Being Alive? The Humanities Library
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Trump says triumphal arch to be used for snipers, drones”
The Triumphal Arch is suppose to be a gift to the American nation for it’s 250th Anniversary so what better gift than a 250ft tall sniper’s nest. Fun fact. Those snipers and their drones will not be there to fight off Russian or Chinese soldiers or even troops from Iran. You can guess who they will be targeting.
Sounds a lot like the Paw Patrol tower. My granddaughters’ favorite is Skye.
As I posted before it should be plywood covered with stucco and gold plastic decorations. Makes for an easy 2029 demolition. You don’t think this monstrosity will actually be built?
The Trump tower
This might sound kind of stupid, but as I was putting away groceries yesterday, I noticed the (SEVEN DOLLAR!) jar of Hellman’s mayonnaise I bought had some “Happy 250th America!” branding on it, which made me reflect on how pathetic the actual official celebrations around last July 4th were.
I could imagine a different America today where 250 years would’ve been a really big deal, and the powers that be made an effort to appeal to Americans of all walks of life and culture, and emphasize we were still one nation together, despite those differences, but instead we got Trump’s pathetic Potemkin village in the Mall, which appeared to be nothing more than an attempt by him to siphon money from the Smithsonian to himself & his buddies, and the handful of god-awful performers who’s careers were so dead that appearing there couldn’t harm their box office appeal or marketability any further.
All we have tying us together is a handful of corporate entities and their interests; all the “America 250” stuff I saw was either Trump’s aforementioned abortion of a celebration, or corporate marketing on hot dog buns, mayo, and beer. I don’t remember ANY spontaneous, public, or organic celebrations of the milestone. Corporate America got what it wanted in the Powell Memo, but at all of our collective expense and benefit. That last line in Conor’s post comparing the US to 1990’s Russia, “The American elite may come to rue the day they embraced the US as a mafia state.” … I can only hope they have the sense to rue what they destroyed. I suspect few of them are self-aware enough for that.
Moar antidote!
This is the best thing I’ve seen on the interwebs in months. Shatner, at 95 years old(!), on stage singing Crazy Train and looking like he’s having the best time of his life – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzjpUxOdwo
This may seem counterintuitive, but read Democrats’ Influencer Era (Politico) with Stop Psychoanalyzing Empire at BettBeat, written by Karim, in tandem.
As I was reading the Democrats’ Influencer Era article, with its endless lists of names I don’t know, except for Hasan Piker, who is all over the place these days, and Candace Owens, who is, errrr, inconsistent, to say the least, I thought of that term the young’uns use: cringe. James Carville? Cringe-o-ganza.
Further, given the enormous and enormously unsightly meltdown going on in TikTok/influencer world over Lindsay Clancy and the untoward behavior of the majority jurors, who have been engaged in a whole lotta media whoring, I wonder if influencers may be getting stale.
Who wants to watch 30 seconds of someone ranting on TikTok in the comfort of their living room?
If I want 30 seconds of diversion, I watch the JapanEats guy and his descriptions of hole-in-the-wall restaurants with amazing cooks brewing ultra-serious broth for ramen.
Karim is insightful about psychobabble and what he also calls “theological”: We have to start asserting that Trump is just as rational as the rest of us. And, even given Joe Biden’s lapses, Biden is rational, too, and an extension of Empire. So is Hillary Clinton, who is malign and ambitious and not just some crazy old lady.
We have to be careful these days about “not guilty by reason of insanity,” which may be the metaphorical meaning of the Clancy trial.
PS: Any article on influencers that doesn’t mention America’s Favorite Influencer [tm], Shoe0nHead, doesn’t pass muster, in my not-so-humble opinion. But then June Lapine, “Commie Mommie,” Shoe, is a real leftist, not some emanation of radical chic.
Funny thing is that you keep on hearing about these influencers and read how they sometimes go to the White House but for the life on me I never recognize any of their names. Who are these people? And who do they influence exactly? Or are they like the Kardassians in being famous for being famous?
Numbers given are those of B-List bloggers from back in the day.
These people are not influential because of their “large” audience numbers, they’re influential because their audience is young and spends money and that attracts ad dollars.
Influencer endorsements are something you make a list of and then bury on your campaign website. Influencers only reach people who already think and probably vote alike. So you’re spending money to pat someone on the back for not stabby stabbing their preferred candidate in the back.
This is not how you win elections. If Democrats were trying to win, they would have their candidates hanging out with conservative influencers so as to reach potential crossover votes. Democrats under neoliberal leadership have completely forgotten how to win elections.
Good morning. That bear’s got back!
The tongue looks like an AI add-on. Never seen a bear stick out its tongue in the wild.
re: Germany’s Central Council of Jews opposes Left Party-led government in state of Berlin – Anadolu Agency
Not only them.
Especially the GREENS. In fact their insane leader Franziska Brantner stated “we won´t go join a coalition with antisemites from Neukölln” (which is a main Arab and DIE LINKE hub in East Berlin).
Yakov Rabkin spoke with Pascal Lottaz most recently about how Israel´s post Cold War extremism (now unhinged by USSR/Arabs) is affecting the West (see second half):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3XJl84sO8Y
This is true for Germany in particular. One could argue the birth of Neofascism out of German “memory politics”. It´s literally insane.
And one should remember that DIE LINKE in Berlin ousted several of its members for articulating the truth about Israel: That it is a genocidal society and state. So however you look at Germany at large and the election outcomes in particular it´s hopeless (elections which are however of only limited significance – Berlin has always been a planet of itself and offers rather limited conclusions about the entire country.)
But the way DIE LINKE speaks they have zero clue of the magnitude of problems Berlin/Germany is facing and how to solve them. And let us not forget they have not even 30%. Right now CDU, SPD, GREENS would be willing to join into a coalition rather than with DIE LINKE. Why?
Because “Israel”. And of course for some minor anti-capitalist agenda DIE LINKE has been propagating for years such as the expropriation of real estate corporation VONOVIA which owns 0.5M apartments in Germany.
For those who are interested:
German daily SÜDEEUTSCHE ZEITUNG has a couple of fancy graphics about the Berlin election by constituency:
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/projekte/artikel/politik/abgeordnetenhauswahl-berlin-2026-wahlergebnisse-live-e052962/
p.s. Why GREEN leader Franziska Brantner is insane (and incompetent) – for starters:
A speech argueing in favour of arming Germany – held in Cambridge in the spring of 2026:
The Lonelier Continent: Europe and the Burden of its Own Defence
https://franziska-brantner.de/news/the-lonelier-continent-europe-and-the-burden-of-its-own-defence/
re: Germany – earlier conscription using “trick”
BERLINER ZEITUNG
“We were ripped off”: Bundeswehr conscription is already affecting young men with no interest in military service
https://archive.is/N99ft
The core trick used by the government – they were simply cheating:
The conscription bill made public in advance before it would be passed in parliament, would be secretly changed 2 days prior:
“(…)
A crucial detail, as the initiative points out, is that the wording stating that conscription would only begin on July 1, 2027, was originally included in the text of the law but was removed two days before its passage. It now only appears in the explanatory memorandum. Only the text of the law is legally binding – earlier conscription is therefore possible.
(…)”
So German deception and fraud are not only affecting Russia for instance. The German state has always been very good at it when extorting its own citizens. Like with taxing, private pension and so on.
Re: ICE plans intel units in every field office to research immigrants, map who they know Project Salt Box
Does that seem familiar?
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gestapo
Oh yeah, rather like the Gestapo.
But never mind that, these stories seem deliberately planted to be provocative and to expressly draw precisely this comparison.
Indeed, it rather feels like it might be following a former media plan once uncovered from Stormfront, 4Chan, Daily Stormer, alt right discussion groups, etc.
“Iranian army says it received intel of imminent US attacks backed by regional states”
It would be risky for Trump to start something right now as he prepares for President Xi to come visit the US. So Trump might launch more attacks but then the Iranians would wait until Xi was in America and launch a massive counter attack against US assets in the Gulf region thus totally humiliating him in front of Xi. It would make him and the US look weak which would put Trump on the back foot which he would hate. Better to wait until Xi has come and gone.
The “received intel” instead of “has intel” is interesting.
Steve Eisman of “The Big Short” fame had a different take on the latest AI news in which he compares the AI owners to side street hustlers.
According to Eisman, “Business is potentially slowing or at least getting more difficult. And like a side street hustler, moving the shells in a shell game, Amodei and Altman don’t want anyone to know that business is slowing or getting more difficult while costs are rising and capital is scarcer. They prefer scaring everyone into creating some kind of regulation that will protect their pricing power in the US. They are moving the shells fast and furious. Business is potentially slowing because token maxing is ending and open-weight models keep taking market share. There are no pricing modes in this business.”
“Today I have the best LLM and tomorrow yours is better and cheaper. At the same time that business is slowing, the cost of building data centers and the cost of capital are increasing. Anthropic and Open AI need moats to defend their businesses because they see, I believe, a price war coming.”
“So they are fermenting hysteria thereby inviting the federal government to regulate the industry. I think they believe that via that regulation they can create moats that will foster an AI duopoly. That’s what’s really going on.”
“It’s ugly. Lying has unintended consequences. It’s one thing to lie to investors. That’s old school Wall Street fraud. Lying to politicians can disrupt the entire economy. AI won’t cause extinction, but these two CEOs are creating massive damage. At this point, this gambit looks like it’s a complete failure.”
“President Trump stated this week that he has no interest in regulating AI. So, I bet the entire doomsday slowdown narrative is going to disappear very quickly. However, the damage is done.”
Steve Eisman — Why Dario Amodei and Sam Altman Are Faking the AI Doomsday Crisis
Sep 18, 2026 The Real Eisman Playbook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1jSJG1iBL8
thanks!
re: Berlin DIE LINKE economic agenda vs. real estate corporations/taxing
via fb-feed:
This is an economics analysis by Italian historian/politician Alessandro Volpi (maybe the Italian desk among commentariat can weigh in):
machine-translation from Italian to English via google
“(…)
In Berlin, the victory of Elif Eralp—a leading candidate for *Die Linke* who ran on a platform that is finally radical—now seems certain.
Her platform embodies a strongly redistributive vision focused on combating financial speculation, addressing the housing crisis, and deeply reforming both local and national tax systems.
Housing lies at the heart of the city’s debate; a combination of early-2000s privatizations and intense financialization has concentrated vast swathes of the private housing stock in the hands of a few corporate groups.
Prominent among them is Vonovia SE—along with Deutsche Wohnen, which it acquired in 2021—controlling over 140,000 apartments in the capital and standing as Germany’s largest operator in the sector.
They are followed by international giants such as the Swedish group Heimstaden, which manages between 20,000 and 25,000 homes, and the Franco-Italian firm Covivio, with approximately 15,000 to 18,000 units.
Also involved are private equity vehicles like the US giant Blackstone and long-established groups such as the Adler Group, which previously held portfolios exceeding 20,000 properties.
In total, major financial players and private investment funds manage between 200,000 and 250,000 Berlin apartments.
In short, Berlin has been transformed into a financial product, and Elif Eralp has clearly taken a stand against this fundamental—almost genetic—mutation.
To break this oligopoly, their response entails the immediate implementation of the 2021 referendum (*Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen*), initiating the expropriation—with compensation—and public acquisition of approximately 220,000 apartments owned by private companies and groups holding more than 3,000 units.
This expropriation measure is coupled with a proposal for a strict rent freeze—applied primarily to the 380,000 municipally owned homes—the creation of a public inspection authority to combat high rents, and a planned expansion of social housing.
Taxation serves as the second pillar of Die Linke’s strategy, designed both to discourage rent-seeking and to generate fresh revenue for essential services.
To directly target high-end real estate assets, Eralp and her party propose a new “luxury villa tax” applicable to properties with an estimated value exceeding €4 million—a measure that would affect, among others, over 3,000 historic properties in the affluent Grunewald district.
The introduction of this surcharge alone, along with related reforms concerning secondary properties, is projected to bring in between €150 million and €300 million in additional annual revenue for the capital—funds to be earmarked specifically for rent-freeze policies and housing initiatives.
These measures are complemented by an increase in the tax on unoccupied second homes, a ban on so-called “share deals”—corporate transactions allowing large funds to avoid property transfer taxes by purchasing shares rather than individual buildings—and a full exemption from the property purchase tax for low- and middle-income families buying their first home.
Eralp’s economic program also addresses the national dimension of taxation: a key proposal involves reintroducing a tax on large fortunes, structured with an initial exemption threshold of €1 million in net assets and progressive rates ranging from 1% to 5% for larger fortunes.
According to institutional studies cited during the campaign debate, simply reintroducing the wealth tax would allow Berlin’s budget to generate over €5 billion annually—funds that could finance free or heavily subsidized urban public transport, childcare facilities (*Kitas*), and school modernization. On the corporate front, the program also calls for raising the corporate tax rate for multinationals to 25% and imposing a windfall tax on the excess profits amassed by energy giants.
As it happens, the AfD is not surging in Berlin.
Yet in Italy, similar positions would be decried as a form of “egalitarian blasphemy.”
(…)”
Trump reportedly said :
“If and when I blow the entire nation up, they better behave.”
I mean…
So sayeth Big Daddy. Rutte didn’t call Trump daddy for nothing.
Trump mis-spoke: I think that should have been past-tense? The question not asked- Which Nation?
Shock Doctrine, and distraction, 24/7, red-lined.
He really is desperate, and we all get to pay.
Re: War may be coming. Are we psychologically ready?
I may be a bit behind the times, as I do not pay close attention to British establishment warmongering regarding Russia, but I found this piece astonishing. The piece asks “Are we ready to approve large increases in defence spending, and for the sacrifices that that might entail in other areas of our national life?” Here’s a psychologist the article quoted, approvingly: “In order to contemplate the possibility of going to war we’ve got to think in simplistic terms. In terms of enemies and heroes. We’ve got to think of Russia as an enemy. The narratives are all simplified.” Then there’s a section glorifying Finnish experience fighting the Soviets in Big Two, entirely leaving out on whose side they were fighting. Enemies and heroes indeed.
Here’s a thought: What do we lose when we try to force civil society to think in such terms?
For some reason, I have a desire to watch that film again “Oh What a Lovely war”-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV1a52yHafY&list=RDLV1a52yHafY&start_radio=1 (3:52 mins)
“Scientists Create New Humanoid Robot That Flinches in Fear When You Come Close”
Must have modeled that from ICE and police instruction manuals – except they substituted ‘shoots’ with ‘flinches’ and ‘perceived threat scenario’ with ‘fear’
Trump Gets Caught in a Dilemma Over a Saudi Plea for Military Help (NY Times; archive)
Oops.