Links 9/6/2026

In 1989, a pelican started visiting a daycare in Japan every day, where it happily played with the kids pic.twitter.com/yCCvGe9YV4 — Science girl (@sciencegirl) September 4, 2026 UN votes to adopt new map that makes our world look very different CNN Second complete map of a fruit fly brain completed Ars Technica COVID-19/Pandemics From AIDS to COVID-19 to Measles, Why do Infectious Disease Public Health Crises Keep Occurring? ContagionLive.com COVID Is BACK! Do You Care? Why Not? The People’s Pharmacy Climate/Environment South of the Border Argentine leader threatens to sanction oil firms and reiterates Falklands claim BBC U.S.-Venezuela Oil Deal Threatens China’s Oil-Backed Loans OILPRICE.com Brazilian 2026 Election: Lula’s Soft Power Skills Threatened by a Hard-Power World Fair Observer China? The beauty of Ruyi Bridge in Taizhou, Zhejiang China. It’s made up of three bridges across the Shenxianju Valley and it features a glass-bottomed walkway. pic.twitter.com/9dCODDs7P2 — Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 5, 2026 China overcapacity or Western protectionism? What the numbers say Asia TimesAI, drones, robots reshape farming in Heilongjiang, China’s grain heartland CGTN China’s Xi seeks to bring large CEO delegation on US visit, sources say Reuters China’s Civil-Military Drone Fusion RealClear Defense India After Gen Z, India’s Gen Alpha rises, demanding education reforms Al Jazeera A $120,000 heart surgery costs $7,900 in India. Here’s where else that math works Quartz 100 airports in 10 years Trinity Mirror Africa Kais Saied’s economic experiment has failed Tunisia Al Jazeera New Report Examines Environmental Costs of British Colonial Rule in Africa APA News Boeing: Africa’s Airplane Fleet Will More than Double by 2045 to Meet Rising Air Travel Demand Boeing European Disunion Five EU nations inch towards deal on migrant ‘return hubs’ by 2027 Al Jazeera Sanctioning a Ghost: Europe’s Empty Gesture Against Iran Sonar 21 The fight against the Alternative for Germany demands a fight against capitalism WSWS EU Enlargement Commissioner cancels planned Serbia visit over war criminal Ratko Mladić glorification European Interest Old Blighty The Canary and George Galloway have been debanked without explanation Council Estate Media Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria Israel just demolished a 120-year-old home in Ni’lin because it didn’t have a building permit. The house was built around 1906. The State of Israel was founded in 1948. The occupation of the West Bank began in 1967.So the paperwork they demanded was issued by an authority that… pic.twitter.com/huodWCwfdx — Paddystinian (@Paddystinian) September 4, 2026 Israel’s Gaza “Solution” Is to Empty It of Palestinians, Defense Minister Says TruthoutThe West Bank Settlements Council is providing settlers with surveillance drones to monitor, pursue, and target Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/HGdbmKCAzN — Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) September 5, 2026 Months after ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah battle over a strategic hill in Lebanon AP Is Israel’s Upcoming Election a Point of No Return from Extremism? Scheerpost Liberal Zionists Are Evil Shitbags Caitlin Johnstone Iran War Trouble in the Pentagon as Leaked Report Paints Iran Conflict as “Unsustainable” Simplicius. Important. IRGC ballistic missile retaliation forces US aircraft carrier, destroyer to flee PressTV It turns out Iran didn't shoot a short-range anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) at the USS George Washington and an accompanying destroyer escort but rather medium-range hypersonic "carrier killer" Qassem Bassir ASBMs that can reach speeds of Mach 5-8. This is the first time… https://t.co/aKRqOD4yn6 — David Pyne 🇺🇸 (@AmericaFirstCon) September 5, 2026 Live: US says it hit three Iranian tankers after missile attacks Middle East Eye Iran shifting military doctrine toward preemptive attack: Army spokesman Andolu Agency 🛢️ Kpler’s latest data show a seven-day average of roughly 8–9 million barrels per day in Gulf and Gulf of Oman exports. The newest figures are incomplete and subject to upward revision and is a broader measure than direct Strait of Hormuz traffic alone. ➤ The regional total… pic.twitter.com/cQfOPwhK0o — Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) September 6, 2026 New Not-So-Cold War Schrödinger’s Russia and the Last Ukrainian The Peacemonger substack Trump negotiators Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Moscow as US pushes for end to Russia-Ukraine war Fox News Big Brother Is Watching You Watch Connected-car data raises new privacy concerns for dealers and consumers CBT News Big Brother is going to college: The federal plan to track students for life The Washington Examiner Imperial Collapse Watch How 9/11 Brought The Neo-Cons Into The Driving Seat Of U.S. Foreign Policy. The Dissident substack Trump 2.0 Trump keeps heralding an economic boom, but even a solid jobs report is causing problems for him AP Donald Trump Has No Idea of the Tidal Wave That’s Coming for Him Unless He Ends the Iran War National Security Journal Trump signs order to remove endangered species protection for grey wolves BBC Trump Is Expanding Executive Power. Democrats Are Already Eyeing the New Tools. Reason Musk Matters Elon Musk unleashes first wave of spending on key races in the midterms Politico Musk pushes regulatory limits with Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi service Reuters TSLA Stock Weakens As Elon Musk’s Optimus Faces New Challengers stocktwits Democrat Death Watch Does DSA Belong in the Democratic Party? Rahm Emanuel Draws a Hard Line Egberto Off the Record substack Democrats are promising a big agenda. Their unity is already being tested Chicago Tribune Immigration ‘Hidden tribunals’: Immigration court due process in tumult with new locations NPR Curran: ICE deaths betray American values Dallas Morning News Our No Longer Free Press Nick Shirley Sues California for Squelching Freedom of the Press Daily Citizen Judge refuses to block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes staffers over CBS interview AP Mr. Market Is Moody Private equity faces existential crisis in US as unsold companies pile up The Guardian California gas prices ‘to set record at the pump’ for Labor Day. What you’ll pay Sacramento Bee Stock market falls as strong jobs report reignites rate hike fears ECIKS.org AI Filmmakers tout AI’s use in Hollywood at the other film festival in Venice Semafor Warner Bros and Netflix executives just froze a $100,000,000 historical epic production after seeing this 48-second clip. A 20-year-old solo creator generated a hyper-realistic scene of a time-traveling travel vlogger interviewing King Leonidas at Thermopylae in 480 BC with zero… pic.twitter.com/MrEzD4W9oh — NOVA (@TechWith_Nova) September 5, 2026 Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, interviews Yuval Noah Harari 3 Quarks Daily People Are Telling Their Darkest Thoughts to AI Without Realizing They Can Easily Become Public Futurism Robotaxis enter their villain era The Verge WeatherNext: AI model achieves breakthrough in forecasting cyclones Deepmind.google The Bezzle Tarrant County authorities arrest alleged leader in $250 million senior fraud scheme CBS News US seeks four suspects over alleged $703 million Medicare fraud involving Pakistani call center Arab News Guillotine Watch Unboxing a luxury $40,000 bottle of Hennessy 8, one of the most expensive cognacs in the world — Science girl (@sciencegirl) April 12, 2025 Antidote du jour (via) See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here ‘@TechWith_Nova NOVA @TechWith_Nova Warner Bros and Netflix executives just froze a $100,000,000 historical epic production after seeing this 48-second clip. A 20-year-old solo creator generated a hyper-realistic scene of a time-traveling travel vlogger interviewing King Leonidas at Thermopylae in 480 BC with zero CGI budget.’ She’s pretty good and I have watched several of her videos on YouTube which is called Chloe VS History- https://www.youtube.com/@ChloeVSHistory Don’t forget to check out the ‘Shorts’ section as there are many more there. She does good work. If it’s so easy to make an AI movie, I wish some kid would make a movie in which, say, a brave family fights off a band of racist genocidal settlers in a certain region of the world. I like a good action flick and I can’t watch another one in which CIA and MI6 are the good guys. Propaganda is important! Is Chloe vs History a Real Girl or 100% AI? The Truth Revealed From this vid she is 100% AI. I watched several other of her vids, quite amazing really. Hollywood is cooked. Absolutely Chloe is AI – but she’s still good. And when I think of the garbage AI-generated special effects that Hollywood comes up with, there must be a lot of red faces in Hollywood over this amateur. “it” (I will die on this hill) Alice X: Hollywood is cooked. Good writing — maybe they should try that. Because good writing, some actors, and a 40-45 feet wide stage was all Shakespeare had. Billy Wilder and his like didn’t have much more than that, either. And the 1957 film “12 Angry Men” was almost entirely set in one room. The solid casting, good story telling and a great script made that film- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Angry_Men My Dinner With Andre, at a table. To be quite frank, I found that Spartans clip underwhelming. Indeed, it looks as if somebody goes around with a mobile phone filming, but cinema is something else — there is a reason people spend a lot of time learning how to use a camera and setting up scenes so that the result avoids such cramped, close quarters views. Besides, the whole appearance is derived from existing movies (such as 300 or Odyssey) — which have been rightly lambasted by more knowledgeable people for their gross historical inaccuracies (garments, hairstyle, etc). If that AI is so powerful, why can’t they at least try to go for something more realistic than cheap comics fare? Then there is this: Total setup cost: $25. Render speed: 4 minutes. […] This creator rendered a full-scale ancient battle documentary before her morning coffee got cold. I have difficulties to believe that the clip was produced without a number of blank tests, trials, re-prompting, and re-generation. There is an impressive list of software components used to manufacture the clip (what the twit describes as “the dynamic next-gen AI stack operating under the hood”), which reminded me very much of the comparable stack of software components used in CGI to generate special effects, backgrounds, animating characters (animals, monsters, etc)… Those additional AI features expand what was already largely used in almost every mainstream / blockbuster movie and series, and make more acute a dilemma that had been present for a couple of decades at least: if we can simply put some actors in front of a greenscreen and generate the environment digitally, what role is there really for directors, cameramen, studios — and even actors, reduced to mimes? With AI, even actors and extras disappear from the picture, but the question remains the same. In my opinion, the end result is not cinema, but animation. The first seconds watching those “Spartans” whacking the mountain side with their swords, I though “Oh dear, this is really stupid”. When they formed a Roman phalanx towards the sea, I stopped really watching and focused on counting fingers and the number of arms “people” had. Not impressed. Fixed it: The beautyugly monstrosity of Ruyi Bridge in Taizhou, Zhejiang China.Putting this monstrosity in a beautiful canyon to charge tourists tolls to make money is an abomination. The Trumpites surely would do this in national parks. Nah! The Trumpites are into building walls, not bridges. :) It does indeed look like a Plastic Oh No! sort of construction. Walk safely. Don’t look down. When I see those “wonders” of Chinese development, my immediate thought is: what will happen 40 years from now? Will they even be able to maintain all those fancy new constructions properly? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the Chinese have a very different aesthetic, to which they are completely entitled to, in their own country. The Chinese Communist Party fundamentally changed the aesthetic sensibilities of the Chinese people, which had remained largely the same for hundreds of years. During the Cultural Revolution, all things old were seen as symbols of the feudal past. Consequently, classical works of art were destroyed or smuggled out of the country. By rejecting the legacy of Chinese civilization, the Chinese people created a rupture in history. It is heartbreaking to see the descendants of artists who once used only black ink to depict beautiful natural landscapes now building garish, ostentatious structures. “UN votes to adopt new map that makes our world look very different ” About bloody time. Don’t get me wrong. The Mercator projection map was a good map in it’s day but unfortunately that day was in 1569. It’s strength was in being used for navigation though it was two centuries more before people could find out how to work out the longitude of a place. It was time then for a proper map for the 21st century that shows the real size of countries. Of course there was only one country in the whole UN that voted against adopting this map. Yep, the US whose deputy rep said- ‘This resolution mocks the work and purpose of this institution. While this initiative is presented as an anodyne effort to update cartographic proportions, the United States clearly sees it cannot be separated from the much larger and more radical ideological project it belongs to – as its most vocal and committed proponents plainly and openly state. Instead of focusing on genuine problems of international peace, prosperity, or good relations, this body is debating map projects from the 16th century, and their role in promoting reparations and “cognitive justice.” Resolutions like this and the ideological agenda they promote, are barnacles on our work here, and the reason this institution is losing its credibility. When the United Nations questions why it is losing legitimacy in the world, and is not taken seriously, time and again, we point to resolutions such as this. We urge countries to instill common sense to this body, and fully reject this text. The United States will vote “no” on this resolution.’ Maybe the UN should have named it the Trump Projection to get the US vote. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/09/05/ygey-s05.html Working WSWS link to AfD article. Thank you Santiago B. I wouldn’t disagree with the headline and tend to agree with the content though at some point one read this: and thinks Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? where have been the socialists during these four decades but flirting with “third ways” and turning neoliberals embedded in market values, competitivity etc? in the same article you find the answer: There is little more to say but important… They say this new SGP, Socialist Equality Party can fight. It must fight with the SPD, Die Linke, BSW and then with AfD. Re: Trump’s Zionist Chuckle Brothers meet with Putin. I see two options (although I’m sure there are others). 1. Trump desperately needs some kind of win before the midterms and will try to make a deal on Ukraine. How much he’s willing to give is unknowable. 2. Trump desperately needs to get out of the Iran mess and will attempt to make concessions on (read: sell out) Project Ukraine. I don’t think either will work although 1. could if he really sells out Ukraine. I’m sure he would if he could. But the Russians won’t actually believe any deal will be honoured, and I can’t think of guarantees that could convince them otherwise. On 2., I can’t imagine there is a carrot big enough to make compromising on support for Iran attractive. So….can anything come out of it? What I think that Laurel and Hardy will propose is that if the US lets the Russians take over the Ukraine by abandoning it, then the Russians in return should abandon Iran and break all their treaties with that country and not aid them militarily. Of course for that to happen, the Russian Federation would have to trust Trump America first… That would be an easy deal to take because the Russians don’t have Iran to begin with, in order to abandon it. BUT if Putin gives Trump anything at all and then is betrayed, as he absolutely will be, I don’t see the Russian populace forgiving this. So yes, as Ben says, there is not a carrot big enough for Trump to dangle in front of anyone. Hrm, except maybe the Ukrainians? Might Trump negotiate a peace between Ukraine and Russia – perhaps the Russians give back Odessa in return for a line drawn somewhere and cessation of hostilities? Might it explain the weird Ratcliffe trip, and the secretive nature of it, as surely certain Ukrainian parties would have wanted to bomb it if they knew it’s purpose. US has shown a talent for reneging on “deals”. Could US be trusted to honor any “deal” on 10 Nov? Yeah and Trump posing as a mediator for peace in Ukraine is a very bad joke. There is nothing to negotiate there. Less so when we are talking about Laurel & Hardy. Putin doesn’t want to be seen as unwilling, hence the meeting but apart from that this is all empty gestures. Hey now. What did Laurel & Hardy do to deserve that slur? Why would Putin do anything other than pretend to listen? The US tore up the M.O.U. with Iran before the ink was even dry. Incapable of following agreements. Aren’t there elections coming in just a few weeks for the Duma? Surely, this is all performative. Trump appears to think that he can unilaterally end the War with Iran… If you needed any further evidence that he has totally lost the plot, here it is. WTAF? Personally, I expect an “October Surprise” although it may be several surprises starting in September. “Seven Days in October” starring an AI Burt Lancaster vamping as Fearless Leader. It’s getting to be like a 1960’s songfest in America now. I am afraid each and every night While you are away we lose all our rights. Bye-bye Freedom farewell Bye-bye Freedom See you in November See you when the Republic’s through Here we are (bye Freedom goodbye) Saying goodbye to the Nation (bye Freedom goodbye) Endless observation (bye Freedom goodbye) ICE is taking us away (bye Freedom goodbye) Have a good time but remember There is danger lurking all around Will I see you in November Or lose you, to the safety we are told to love (Counting the days till we find if it’s true) (Counting the goons wearing Red, White and Blue) Bye Freedom goodbye Bye Freedom goodbye (Bye-bye, so long, farewell) Bye Freedom goodbye (Bye-bye so long) Bye Freedom goodbye Have a good time, but remember There is danger lurking all around Will I see you in November Or lose you, to the safety we are told to love (I’ll be afraid each and every night) (While you’re away we lose all our rights) See you (bye-bye Freedom farewell) In November (bye-bye Freedom farewell) I’m hopin’ I’ll see you (bye-bye Freedom farewell) In November (bye-bye Freedom farewell) Well maybe I’ll see you (bye-bye Freedom farewell) In November…. “See You in September” The Happenings 1966 “San Francisco Democrats spent MILLIONS on $100K cabins for the homeless. A year later and they’re empty” For the Democrats this was a very successful program. The right people got to dip their beaks with all those contracts and a thousand dollar shed ended up “costing” $100,000 each. Who cares what happens to those sheds afterwards. The money has already been made on them. And if only 60 sheds were ever built, who cares? The Clinton Foundation took in many millions after the Haiti earthquake and only ended up building a tiny handful of homes too. It’s almost a Democrat tradition. Say, does anybody remember reading how after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, that the city built something like 5,300 small wooden cottages for those still in need of housing? And that later on they were individually transported by wagon to new locations in that city and some are still around today? https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/1906-earthquake-relief-efforts-living-accommodations.htm?inline-read-more Don’t know what made me think of that. re: From AIDS to COVID-19 to Measles, Why do Infectious Disease Public Health Crises Keep Occurring? Ummm…. Fauci? From Jimmy Dore: Fauci Had a CIA File — Here’s What’s In It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwiZyqj0CI0 “American Airlines passenger from hell DUCT-TAPED to seat on flight forced to divert over his terrifying tirade” I was just imagining that it was the year 2100 and some American family decides to do some family history research. One name they know is Arthur Lundeen so they log into Ancestry, put in his forename, put in his surname, put in 1959 as an approximate year of birth and Arizona as a place that he would have lived in and hit enter. Oh look, they will say. Here is a newspaper article with his name in it. The “Daily Mail?” Maybe he lived in the UK. So they will click on that linked news story and what comes up will be his image of being trussed up and taped to an airline seat. You never know what you will find doing family history research. That story is unbelievable, except of course it happened in America. The photo of him taped in the seat!!!! However, I am very proud of Thailand for its first deportation case under streamlined procedures: https://archive.is/bZIrU Posting threatening messages online and orchestrating an online campaign against that business, simply because he did not like a sign that they had on display? Humphh. Not every Israeli, but always an Israeli. Yup. I did a deepish dive into family history. I discovered that part of the family were religious fanatics who had another branch of the family horribly killed (clearly a few of the kids survived). Also everyone wants to be descended from someone famous. I discovered that we’re descended from one of history’s total saps. On a happier note, we are descended from the first woman executed in Nouvelle France;^) She killed her abusive husband and was hung for it. Beware, there be dragons in family history… I have an ancestress that tried to have her husband murdered in the early days on the New South Wales colony. She was put in jail but never tried by which I assume that her fellow colonist thought she had a point so dropped the whole thing. Lots of fascinating stuff came up researching her long life. But yeah, there be definitely dragons in family history… The Abe Lincoln has been replaced, but how about the support ships and those poor god damned Marines? AFAIK those marines have been cooped up on small ships for Months, their physical condition must be seriously degraded, not to mention their Morale. The US Chief of Naval Operations came out the other day and said that those sailors had better get used to longer deployments until he can grow the Navy that he needs. Seven months deployment? That is old timey thinking- https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-chief-longer-deployments/ Wouldn’t want to be an American sailor right now. I wonder how many lower ranking enlisted personnel in the Navy will be re enlisting? If you are close to making Captain, or are a Captain or Admiral it makes sense to re up for the retirement and other benefits. Recruits for the Military have mostly been coming from places devastated by the economic policies of Clinton and his successors, you got respect and the GI Bill which was for many years (No longer) a ticket to the middle class and a decent life. Now? A chance to die for Israel. re: Germany- Russia Yesterday´s 60-min interview with the Russian Ambassador in Berlin, Nechayev, on one of Germany´s biggest YT-channels (these things do not happen on national TV any more): English AI-dubbing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlj7LbR_c6g 2.3M views in 24 hours p.s. Allegedly – I haven´t checked – Nechayev was called in by the German government who filed a complaint about this interview. “From AIDS to COVID-19 to Measles, Why do Infectious Disease Public Health Crises Keep Occurring?” Because careers depend on them. And careers give not a fig whether the crises are fake. Chicago Tribune: “Democrats are promising blah blah blah BLAH blah BLAH blah…” (Yawn) Regarding people telling their deepest thoughts to AI, I know someone who actually does this and thinks it really helps with all her problems in life. (Shudder) It’s someone who has a very low information view of the world though (“if only Hillary had won everything would be wonderful” etc.), but I wonder how typical that is of the American public now. Maybe some have seen the word “bubble” in a few financial headlines, but are most people on board with the idea that AI Is Inevitable (AIII), which is what the media have mostly been pushing? I am not sure what my friend will do when the price of her AI suddenly quintuples (or worse). I watched a documentary on Bill Clinton and the affair with the intern last night. One thing that struck me was that, like him or not, Bill Clinton was the leader of the Democratic Party. He had his enemies, but they were mostly on the far right. Contrast that with Trump. Everybody hates him. His own party only follows him out of fear, not respect. He is sort of like a virus that ate the brains out of the GOP, leaving a zombified party that cannot think for itself, only twitch and shuffle to and fro, attracted by the sound of the music coming from their lunatic organ grinder. A zombie wearing a red MAGA cap. “Trump Is Expanding Executive Power. Democrats Are Already Eyeing the New Tools.” This headline, right here, perfectly sums up why the Dems make a very public display of fretting over Trump but, when push comes to shove, do nothing (or find some villains to rotate in.) They might be anti-Trump for fundraising, but he’s accomplished things TPTB only dreamed of. Too bad so many will continue to buy the sell.