Links 8/20/2026

Dolphins recorded using sea shells to catch fish for first time Oceanographic The Great Modern Train Robbery: Thieves Steal $200 Million a Year Bloomberg Rich and poor kids should grow up next to each other The Argument Climate/Environment Look, how hot this island is, the international media will start to notice this issue sooner. Not only the fires that are being noticed, drought is also hitting the island of Kalimantan https://t.co/UYxiBVXulA — yellowcity (@mrbanyakduit) August 20, 2026 European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves The Guardian Hunger At The 2°C Dinner Table Climate Uncovered World may warm by 25 per cent more than current projections suggest NewScientist How the World’s Largest Electric Company Fell Quiet on Renewable Energy Inside Climate News Headlines from 2036: We have our winners! Climate Colored Goggles Pandemics Mobile gold miners in eastern Congo complicate health workers’ efforts to contain Ebola AP COVID is ‘growing’ in nearly every state, CDC reports. Here’s where levels are highest The Hill The Koreas Trump says he will meet N. Korea’s Kim this year, puts N.K. nukes at 57 Yonhap Japan Japan has few answers as bond rout puts fiscal plans at risk Reuters China? The story told in this graph is important. If you set a GDP growth target and you cannot get consumption to grow faster than the target, then you also cannot allow investment to grow more slowly than the target except to the extent that a rising trade surplus takes up the slack.… https://t.co/ll4FO1jhFn — Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) August 19, 2026 China Evergrande founder sentenced to life in prison Straits Times So, What Is China Actually Doing? The Merchant’s News Unitree’s Blockbuster Debut Vaults Billionaire Founder Into Ranks Of China’s Richest Tech Moguls Forbes Syraqistan IDF Marks Palestinian Detainees With Numbers as It Expands Northern West Bank Operations Haaretz Israel’s Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir brags about public viewing booths to watch Palestinian political prisoners be executed He advertises it as an attraction where Israelis can enjoy the murder of Palestinians up close. Israel is introducing the death penalty against… pic.twitter.com/h9NVMwDdHR — MintPress News (@MintPressNews) August 19, 2026 *** Trump declares ‘Economic D-Day’ on Iran, its allies Turkiye Today The Confession in the Escalation: If Iran Is Beaten and Hormuz Is Ours, Why the “Unprecedented” Sanctions? Larry Johnson U.S. conducting stealth operation to transport oil through Hormuz Axios Saudi Arabia wants Iran-backed militia ‘heads to roll’ in Iraq amid talks with Tehran Al-Monitor *** Turkey rejects Israeli claim that planned troop deployment prompted Syria airstrike Turkish Minute Ehud Barak accuses Netanyahu of manufacturing crisis with Türkiye Turkiye Today The changing landscape of Middle Eastern politics is fascinating to observe. The most senior US envoy in the region – effectively the ambassador to three countries simultaneously – is publicly taking Syria’s side and rebuking longtime US darling Israel. Meanwhile, an… pic.twitter.com/PZLnYKtxuV — T. 📚☕️ (@levantophile) August 18, 2026 🇺🇸🇮🇱/Syria: Israeli Strikes at Syrian Airport Part of US Perception Management ▪️Israeli strikes on Syria are designed to manage regional public perception ahead of the regional use of US-backed terrorists now controlling Syria; ▪️In order to use Syria against Iran and its… pic.twitter.com/mxUATUWzfi — Brian Berletic (@BrianJBerletic) August 19, 2026 European Disunion Brussels changes gear on Big Tech enforcement Politico Greece’s alliance with Israel is becoming a domestic liability Middle East Eye Armed Neutrality & The Consistent Renunciation of War Pascal Lottaz O Canada Trump Dangles Keystone XL Revival as Canada Tariff Deadline Looms Oil Price Old Blighty Harry and Meghan will be living back in Britain THIS MONTH: Pair’s sudden decision to leave California takes Charles and William by surprise – Archie and Lilibet will attend UK school but couple don’t plan to be working royals Daily Mail. All is right with the world again. The politics of Cher Chris Dillow The Lucky Country Australia taps US firm to build yard for 10,000-ton AUKUS nuclear submarines Interesting Engineering New Not-So-Cold War British Foreign Policy on Autopilot: Escalating in Ukraine Without Strategy, Consent or Hard Power Ian Proud Russia warns UK against participation in war Anadolu Agency Giving Terrorism the Consideration It Demands The Duran Is A Social Crisis Really Inevitable Like A Former Top Russian Economist Recently Warned? Andrew Korybko Sacked Ukraine defence minister challenges Zelenskyy with call for election ITV News South of the Border U.S.-Registered Drone Detected at Site of Suspected CIA Boat Strike Drop Site Half of Venezuela’s oil output now exported to US IDN CK Hutchison seeks US$1.5 billion from Panama in treaty dispute arbitration Channel news Asia L’affaire Epstein Virginia Giuffre’s case files finally to be unsealed The Epstein Files by Julie K. Brown Spook Country The Hidden Debt That Apple Owes to the CIA WSJ Five Americans, Ecuador intelligence chief killed in tourist helicopter crash in Kenya CNN Trump 2.0 Politics drove antisemitism probes against Ivy League schools, DOJ whistleblower says WaPo Bessent Becomes Most Interventionist Treasury Chief in Decades Bloomberg Trump administration advances plan to rescind protections for nearly 45 million wild acres States Newsroom GOP Funhouse Darline Graham’s Campaign Must Give Back Megadonor Money NOTUS Democrats Suck Another democratic socialist victory – Angie Nixon in Florida – sends shock waves through party establishment The Guardian Ossoff annoys Trump, White House, to Democratic delight and dismay The Hill Our Famously Free Press Media’s Obsession With Natalie Harp Shames Us All Kathy Gannon The Flood is the Strategy Card Catalog Police State Watch ICE pitches legal insurance to help shield local officers who make immigration arrests CNN Big Brother Is Watching You Watch Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code Wired Amazon aims for delivery drones to reach 500 US neighborhoods by end of 2026 Ars Technica The Accelerationists Whistleblower Arturo Béjar leads testimony in landmark trial against Meta NPR MAHA Doritos as farm-to-table snacks? Big Food, under duress, gets creative STAT Sports Desk Extreme heat has changed elite sport this summer – it must adapt to survive The Guardian Casino Nation Gambling on the Little League World Series? Sports bettors have gone too far TechCrunch The Chaos Machine Harper’s Immigration The Fight Begins Over Student Workers Migrant Insider Imperial Collapse Watch The $1 Trillion Black Box ProPublica Tens of Thousands in Indiana Are Still Without Power a Week After Deadly Storms AP AI AI was supposed to win people over by now — it hasn’t TechCrunch Class Warfare How an Alleged Wage-Fixing Scheme Is Fueling Historic Labor Uprisings Sentient Don’t Let Them Take What’s Ours Working Class Stories Antidote du jour (via): See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here. Thank you, Conor. Further to the Arday tragedy afflicting Blighty, readers may be interested in some more reporting: https://bylinetimes.com/2026/08/18/the-peter-thiel-linked-race-science-network-that-penetrated-cambridge-university-and-targeted-jason-arday/ https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/08/19/cofnas-ghent-university/ Wow, Colonel. Is Peter Thiel omnipresent as well as the Antichrist? Noted the mentions of Aporia and Quillette. The Aporia article that appeared yesterday as a debunking exercise certainly evinced the character of that white-supremacist publication. Thiel is quite the monster. Peter Thiel is like the Lord Voldermort of our times. A name that people do not want to speak of but know that he is out there somewhere, building his evil schemes. Henry Moon Pie: Yep, the Byline Times article is a must-read, especially because author Nafeez Ahmed names names. Admittedly, the stakes in academia tend to be about egomania, dubious perks, and getting the big trade-book contract. And there’s this: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel has cultivated ties to key actors in this network: to Cambridge Professor James Orr, through whom he channelled a donation to Cambridge; to Orr’s Cambridge circle; to online magazine Quillette which published attacks on Arday; and directly to Nathan Cofnas and Aporia senior editor Noah Carl. It’s typical of Claire Lehmann and James Orr to try to deny their way out of a scandal that Ahmed details. And note the cameo appearance by freedom-lovin’ Estonia. Certainly casts Aurelian’s essay from yesterday’s links in a different light. I notice that a number of commenters had already disputed Aurelien’s attempt to make Arday a symbol of contemporary deterioration of standards. Worse, the merciless insinuation that his suicide might have been a further attempt to “control the discourse’. I wonder if, finding himself in such company Aurelien will reconsider. Thank you, Colonel Smithers, this is extremely valuable. One wonders where else this is happening. I strongly suspect advocates of “natural law” are also influenced by anti-Black and anti-DEI/diversty groups, or are using such as a vehicle. “(3rd LD) Trump says he will meet N. Korea’s Kim this year, puts N.K. nukes at 57” Hard to understand what Trump thinks that he would get out of such a visit. North Korea sure as hell won’t give up their nukes nor will they let Trump convince them to have basing rights in their country. It might be to punish South Korea for not volunteering to go into the Gulf but scores of countries have done the same. Perhaps he wants to sign mineral deals as North Korea has a lot of mineral wealth but would they trust any US corporation in their country? It might be that Trump thinks that he can pry North Korea from China and Russia’s orbit but that would mean trusting Trump. Yeah, nah! All I can think of is that it is a small success that he can relive again from his first term. Rev Kev: Trump meets Kim Jong-un for a kimchi taste-o-ganza. There is nothing that Trump can do to alter the current situation in that part of Asia by importuning North Korea. As we keep having to write here at Naked Capitalism, look at the geography. But it may be that any case for Trump’s sanity is now pretty much mooted. He’s reduced to being a crazy old rich man — or to use an insightful expression, There’s no fool like an old fool. Uh oh – Kim’s sister already denied the story; there is no invitation for the unwanted house guest: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/world/asia/north-korea-trump-military-drills.html I cant remember where I saw a recent story on the state of the NK economy. It’s supposedly the hottest economy in Asia currently. Perhaps Trump wants to brand that still unfinished monster of a hotel in Pyongyang. Get in on the ground floor as they say. Larry Johnson is using too much ChatGPT in his articles lately. The AI stink is real even while I think he’s still worth reading. Media’s Obsession with Natalie Harp. Jon Ossoff Annoys Trump. Maybe, maybe, people in politics and the various media workers should have thought about this business of creating sex scandals to force changes in power. I will give Kathy Gannon credit for admitting that Bill Clinton’s behavior — and the elite’s unending tittering about Bill’s antics — is reprehensible. I’m thinking. I’m thinking. Why, I’m so old I recall Graham Platner. And then after Platner, there was the bottle-throwing “uncomfortable” rumors about Troy Jackson. As for Ossoff, he’s maneuvering, but he’s also oooshy on Medicare for All / with Mental/Dental. Next up! Ossoff interviews Pete Buttigieg in Norwegian to assure voters of their bona fides and electability. And there’s this: “I can’t speak to the president’s perspective here, but I think the reason the senator’s comments are striking a nerve more broadly is largely thanks to his overall approach,” Democratic strategist Lynda Tran said. Tran, please retire. Quoted by The Hill Is there any excuse for these Dem weiners? The country is circling the drain and they are worried the media might consider them impolite or politically incorrect. Of course they were more than happy to describe Trump as the new Hitler not so long ago or as a Russian stooge but they knew peddling a made up reality carried fewer risks than talking about the sleazy underbelly of the elite class. The way to fight the elites is to take away their respectable veneer and treat them as the scoundrels that they actually are. This was the great virtue of the Me Too movement. Of course many of those scoundrels are Democrats worried about such a trend. ‘This was the great virtue of the Me Too movement’ Right up to the point where Joe Biden’s name came up. And then that movement got shut down. It seems that not all women were to be believed – and especially not Tara Reade. Should be renamed as the Me Too Progressive movement. “Virginia Giuffre’s case files finally to be unsealed” ‘In this case, the former judge (Robert Sweet, now deceased) issued a blanket sealing on all the documents because they contained “sensitive” and “private” information. Sweet placed a protective order on massive amounts of material, including hearings and judicial decisions made in the case — and voluminous evidence that Virginia presented to show that Epstein and Maxwell were operating an underage sex trafficking operation.’ Another example of how the laws can be bent in order to protect important people. But if we are going to be honest, will the main stream media have any interest at all in publishing what is on those files? Will the Democrats highlight what is in them? Will the Trump DoJ go after the names in those files? Probably they will suffer the fate of the Panama Papers where after a short while, they were never talked about again. I imagine the Dems will be too busy dialing for AIPAC, and the MSM will too busy exhuming Jason Arday’s corpse for further kicking. Here is a good article on China’s consumption: https://cf40research.substack.com/p/chinas-consumption-is-not-nearly ” This paper examines China’s consumption levels by comparing actual consumption volumes. Through a comparison with major economies—including the United States, Japan, Germany, France, and Mexico—it finds that the gap between China and developed countries across various consumption sectors is significantly narrower when measured by actual consumption volumes rather than by per capita consumption expenditure.” To the extent that there is significantly less room for personal consumption growth in China than many assume, I am not sure if that is beneficial to China. There must be some misunderstanding (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) There must be some kind of mistake (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) I waited in Air Force One for hours (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) And you were late Now it’s not like me to say the right thing (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) But you could’ve called to let me know (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) I checked your number twice, don’t understand it (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) So I went home Well, I’d been waiting for this summit I thought that maybe we could make a show Never dreamed I’d have this feeling Oh, but seeing you is believing That’s why I don’t know why You didn’t show up that night There must be some misunderstanding There must be some kind of mistake I was waiting in Air Force One for hours And you were late Since then I’ve been running around trying to find you I went to the places that Xi always goes I rang your house but got no answer Jumped in my car, I went ’round there Still, don’t believe it Xi was just leaving Oh, there must be some misunderstanding (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) There must be some kind of mistake (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) There must be some misunderstanding (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) Yes, there must be some kind of mistake (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) (There must be, there must be, oh, oh) Misunderstanding (There must be, there must be, oh, oh) Misunderstanding (There must be, there must be, oh, oh) Misunderstanding (There must be, there must be, oh, oh) “Misunderstanding” by Genesis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_L-S-0Gc4I