Links 3/11/2026

BREAKING 🚨: The Earth's core confirmed to have 'reversed' its spin. Yes, the ground beneath your feet quietly changed direction and nobody told you. For decades, scientists assumed Earth’s inner core rotated slightly faster than the rest of the planet, spinning independently… https://t.co/yFjaJOni2R pic.twitter.com/7gBVIKyyaJ — The Curious Tales (@thecurioustales) March 10, 2026 This 2-pound dinosaur is rewriting what scientists know about evolution Science Daily (Kevin W) #COVID-19/Pandemics Where have all the Long COVID clinics gone? The Sick Times Climate/Environment ‘Exceptional’ wetness points to climate change future, say scientists Financial Times Will there be a super El Niño later this year? Here’s what that would mean. Washington Post Here's a new look at SSTs, now including the official boundaries for "Gobsmacking Bananas," "Uncharted Territory" and "Totally F&%ked". Look at 1998/99, 2016/17 and 2024/25. This is what to expect in 2027/28 if a monster El Nino comes to pass later this year. pic.twitter.com/riVzfVtLll — Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) March 8, 2026 How a shift in the Gulf Stream could signal the collapse of a major ocean current system PhysOrg Global fatal landslides in 2025 Eos The Iran War is also a climate war EnergyMix FWIW, not where I am, have yet to use air con. Our hottest time is now-ish through the start of rainy season in early May: Record heat never ends in CHINA Another avalanche of records for early March with the heat expected to increase next days. Even Mongolian highlands can record 20C again on Thursday. Record heat has been sweeping all Central,South,Southeast Asia for weeks. https://t.co/s4KW9O35XK— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) March 10, 2026 U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters in 2025 Climate Central Colorado River may deliver just a third of normal water supplies this spring, projections show Greeley Tribune China? No Magnets, No Drones: How China Controls the Future of Warfare OilPrice (resilc) Goodbye, Taiwan China Talk China stands to gain from US moving military assets for Iran war: cross-strait adviser South China Morning Post Africa Hunger crisis is set to get worse in west and central Africa – why and what to do about it The Conversation South of the Border US and Ecuadorian militaries burn homes and torture workers in “Operation Total Extermination” WSWS (Micael T) European Disunion Oil and gas industry urge EU to pause methane emissions law Reuters Greenland’s Untested Oil Basin Could Be the Next Big Discovery OilPrice The Dutch ruling elite, its royals, and the war against Iran WSWS (Micael T) Old Blighty The HMS Dragon row: why has it taken so long to get a UK destroyer to Cyprus? Guardian (Kevin W) Israel v. The Resistance Λοιπόν κυκλοφορεί ότι ο Τραμπ θέλει τώρα να σταματήσει όπως όπως τον πόλεμο που αυτός ξεκίνησε. Κι αφού οι στρατιωτικές βάσεις των ΗΠΑ έγιναν στάχτη και οι Αμερικάνοι στρατιώτες αποχώρησαν από αυτές. Κι αφού για μέρες μιλούσε για συντριπτική ήττα του Ιράν και για βέβαιη αλλαγή… — Γρηγόρης Αρετάκης Greg Aretakis 格雷格·阿雷塔基斯 (@blackbatmarx) March 9, 2026 During the last war, Israel killed so many paramedics that occasionally I would meet one at a funeral and a day or a week later, I’d be going to his funeral. In watched them bury their colleagues and then go right back to work saving lives. I even once helplessly witnessed a… https://t.co/ZRO76ryfe9 pic.twitter.com/7gXGTNmjBq — courtneybonneauimages (@cbonneauimages) March 11, 2026 Pentagon burned through $5.6B in munitions in first 2 days of Iran war The Hill Charlie Foxtrot Julian Macfarlane. There are cluster bombs and cluster bombs…. U.S. Begins Withdrawing THAAD Missile Defence Systems From South Korea to Replenish Losses in War with Iran Military Watch ‘No endgame’: Why US Democrats say Iran war hearing has them worried Aljazeera The US is asking Romania to deploy additional forces for strikes on Iran TopWar. Micael T: So now they up-the-ante against Russia. The installations in Poland and Romania were to defend against Iran but everybody knows the installations are against Russia. Iranian drones are shooting down interceptors Not the other way around. Kevin Walmsley (Kevin W) Why are ships linked to China getting through the Strait of Hormuz? FRANCE 24 English, YouTube (resilc) ‘Swinging into action:’ The Saudi Arabian pipeline designed to bypass Hormuz Middle East Eye. resilc: “Puts the Houthis back in play.” Hormuz closure would cost Gulf states average 3.8% of GDP, Marex warns as Bahrain most exposed BNE Intellinews Shia uprising erupts in Bahrain YouTube (resilc) New Not-So-Cold War 🇷🇺🇺🇦🚨 URGENT: Ukraine now controls only 15–17% of Donetsk region. Down from 25% just six months ago. Putin noted the shift. The numbers don't lie. The front is moving. While the West talks victory, the map tells the truth. Territory lost. Momentum shifting. The war they said… pic.twitter.com/iETB8rgScz — New Direction AFRICA (@Its_ereko) March 10, 2026 Ukraine says it has hit Russian ‘missile component’ plant BBC Mass Ukrainian Drone Raid Hits Chemical Plant in Tolyatti, Mariupol Ammo Depot Kyiv Post Big Brother is Watching You Watch >Israel Googling Real Names of Anonymous X Users Consortium News (Kevin W). This is so evil FBI Investigates Breach That May Have Hit Its Wiretapping Tools The Register German Publishers Push Regulators To Fine Apple Over App Tracking Transparency 9to5Mac Imperial Collapse Watch A Farewell To Arms Supplies Aurelien As U.S. Military Threats and Actions Escalate, Coalition Calls for Ending Preparations for a Military Draft Antiwar.com (Kevin W) From Suez to Hormuz: parallels in imperial overreach Asia Times (Kevin W) Trump 2.0 Unpacking Hegseth’s Propaganda on Targeting Civilians Ryan Goodman Bondi Is Said to Move to Military Housing Because of Threats New York Times (resilc). BWAHAHA. MAGA war skeptics rage over Lindsey Graham Politico (Kevin W) Hegseth warns Russia as signs point to Moscow sharing intel with Iran Fox News (Kevin W). BWHAHAHA RFK Jr. to Undergo Surgery MedPage Today. For his brain worms? GOP Clown Car Rand Paul: Midterms will be ‘disastrous’ for Republicans The Hill L’affaire Epstein Epstein’s ‘Zorro Ranch’ under investigation in New Mexico Anadolu Agency Jeffrey Epstein had two key aides – why do they still control his money and secrets? BBC (Paul R) A top biotech VC quietly helped Epstein’s ‘great friend’ make a comeback STAT AI “A spate of outages, including incidents tied to the use of AI coding tools”, right on schedule Gary Marcus Without effective regulation of AI, society is facing a head-on collision with a driverless car Guardian Meta Acquires Moltbook, the Social Network For AI Agents Axios How AI Assistants Are Moving the Security Goalposts Brian Krebs The Bezzle The Next Domino: The Liquidity Trap Ryan Perkins. Important. Private credit as a potential crisis detonator (or accelerant, given the Iran war givens) Bill Ackman Details Plan to Take Hedge-Fund Firm, New Fund Public Simultaneously Wall Street Journal. Lisa T: Bill Ackman taking Pershing Square public is like Godzilla coming out into Tokyo Bay to make a profit, right before everything turns to shit. Based on his big, histrionic performance on CNBC at the start of the pandemic, in the day before the markets crashed, if he’s taking his company public, can’t be long now. He went on wailing about the pandemic and his vulnerable father and it was quite the performative performance. Sheesh. Settle down, dude. Watching it, I was thinking, he’s deliberately trying to drive the market down. Bill Ackman Wants Your Money Again Matt Levine Are Prediction Markets Actually Good for Journalism? Columbia Journalism Review. No. The bettors have to be either very knowledgeable or if a political topic, representative. Look at Brexit. Prediction markets are at best a useful foil or aside in a proper piece….save for insider trading type activity Guillotine Watch Forbes World’s Billionaires List: The Top 200 Forbes (Kevin W) Antidote du jour (via): And a bonus (Robert H): 🐪🇴🇲 Camel cooling off in the sea in Salalah village, Dhofar, Oman pic.twitter.com/DVV5DdPa7a — MENA Visuals (@menavisualss) March 10, 2026 A second, atypical bonus from John U: See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here. Working link for “Israel Googling Real Names of Anonymous X Users” article at- https://consortiumnews.com/2026/03/09/israel-googling-real-names-of-anonymous-x-users/ The lesson is of course to never trust your privacy to a billionaire, especially Elon Musk. Indeed but the source of the leaking seems to be the company–run by former Israeli spooks–Musk is using to verify the identities of the premium version X users. The latter have to turn over all their personal details. How do you lookup who is googling you? Or where they are? I’d like to be able to do that. What is a lovely photo of snow-cloaked, out-west size trees. That must have been a magical walk. Thanks John. The WaPo climate article on El Niño is surprisingly candid for a mainstream piece. For instance, the lede, New data suggests this has the potential to become one of the strongest El Niño events on record. There’s been rumblings about this in the climate sciences community for a short stretch now as the elephant in the room begins to take form. is this a plantidote? I miss them! “U.S. Begins Withdrawing THAAD Missile Defence Systems From South Korea to Replenish Losses in War with Iran ” I think this is telling me we are not “winning” as much as orange man says we are. By the way, thanks for the Richard Medhurst video yesterday. It was eye opening, and this article backs up what he said. I am sure Iran will just bomb the new ones… In Canada, about 2 years ago Rick Salutin in his column in the Toronto Star opined that the NDP at the federal level should merge with the Liberals because, at least, these individuals would have some form of political party and hence have some effect in Canadian politics. As “left wingers” of the Liberal party – they are more viable than a political party virtually with no “footprint” as NDP/CCF, long since a corpse with advent of Layton and Mulcair and the latest leader — who again ? Neither Carney, Poilievre and now anyone in the NDP have any moral standing, in politics and/or as leaders of any form of governemental represention or even as political representatives of Canadians, because of their full throated support for Trump and Israel’s war of aggression on Iran with the killing of the Iranian leader(s) and school children within 24 hours of initiation of war. These are very dark days but the aforesaid “leaders” will backtrack when the war tanks big time, slowly and very suddenly, as they say about going bankrupt. Cynicism is not the issue, I am simply, very simply, think realistically. I am ashamed to call myself a Canadian. Canadian tourists and travellers would be well advised not to attach a maple flag on their persons and luggage – self identifying as a Canadian. “Unpacking Hegseth’s Propaganda on Targeting Civilians” Hegseth says that his War Department does not deliberately target civilians but I can think of over 1,300 Iranians who might dispute this. But this war will not end well for Hegseth. Trump will never blame himself for starting this war so he will look for somebody to throw under the bus. It won’t be Netanyahu or Lindsey Graham as he will still be loyal to them. It won’t be Tulsy Gabbard as she is too low down the pole, even though Trump likes to throw women under the bus. But then there is Pete Hegseth as people like The Duran have suggested. Trump can claim that it was on Pete’s advice that he started this war and nobody would be sorry to see his tattooed a** go out the door. A few private leaks about his drinking problem and his responsibility for the killing of those school girls and he could be quickly gone. A word about that school bombing. Scott Ritter was mentioning that back in the 90s one of his jobs was to update the target stack which meant examining every target to see if it was still valid or even still there. It was tedious but vital to know what was actually being bombed. What is the bet that old Pete gave that job to an AI and called it a day. Of course as he admitted this didn’t stop that bomb shelter massacre in Iraq. I’m having some doubts about Ritter. In that talk he says that Netanyahu’s house was blown up with Netanyahu’s brother in it. Search suggests this is not true–perhaps not even the house. Even if it was just an aside Ritter seems a little too eager to sell himself as in the know about everything. And the notion that the military was being righteous in past neocon wars but not this one is silly. Our problem at the moment is that Trump and his scurvy crew are even dumber than Dubya–quite an accomplishment. I like Ritter and admire his many good qualities (including his passion), but he does sometimes have a bad case of rose-colored glasses. I’ve been watching the US political scene since the seventies and nothing that’s happening right now is terribly novel except perhaps in scale. Ritter sometimes gives the impression that back when he was a young ‘un soldiers were more honorable, men were more manly, officers were more straightforward and trustworthy, and so on. I wish it were true, though I see no huge signs of it. Granted, Ritter has much closer exposure to the inside of the military world than I do. Apologies, added some links after the customary launch time due to Iran War post. All done now. Please refresh this page and re-skim if you arrived before the time of this comment. Whoops! Actual URL for missing “Domino” link in The Bezzle section: https://ceinewsletter.substack.com/p/the-next-domino-the-liquidity-trap Just added but thanks! “Epstein’s ‘Zorro Ranch’ under investigation in New Mexico” If this article had been from 2019, then it would have been of immediate interest. But to wait seven years after his death to finally go see what was at that place? Anything of interest would have been cleared out of that place long, long ago and burned in the surrounding desert. Justice delayed is justice never served. Glaciers move faster than the investigation of Epstein’s empire. It’s the state of New Mexico investigating because the Fed’s never did. They say they are looking for buried bodies of girls which, if found, would be quite horrible. Too bad the parts of the estate where this was likely to be have been bulldozed Are Prediction Markets Actually Good for Journalism? Columbia Journalism Review. No. The betters [should be “bettors”] have to be either very knowledgeable or if a political topic, representative. Look at Brexit. Prediction markets are at best a useful foil or aside in a proper piece….save for insider trading type activity Thanks, will fix. Does this qualify as a Freudian typo, as in the bettors think they are betters? Taibbi’s latest. No paywall. Interview With America’s Exiled Speech Dissident, Dimitri Simes Dimitri Simes defected to the U.S. in the seventies and was a proud American for five decades, until he was criminally charged with a Soviet-style offense: being a journalist https://www.racket.news/p/interview-with-americas-exiled-speech Taibbi as usual with his finger on the pulse of the moment. He’s pioneered the freedom-of-speech-while tip-toeing-around-Israel beat. I look forward to reading another piece on that iconoclast Bari Weiss. – ‘Jeffrey Epstein had two key aides – why do they still control his money and secrets?’ – BBC I had to laugh at this: “Indyke and Kahn have denied any wrongdoing in their interactions with Epstein and are not facing any criminal charges. “No judge in any court anywhere has ever found that Mr Indyke or Mr Kahn committed any wrongdoing of any kind,” Daniel Weiner, Indyke’s lawyer, told BBC News.” Ah yes, the Michael Tracey defense. Rather than seeing this as *the central f**king problem*, it is used as evidence that there is nothing to see here! “Epstein was only convicted of solicitation from a 17 year old. Pay no attention to all that other evidence that was collected by investigators and then repressed or ignored by prosecutors.” We are a nation of rights and laws, after all. Let Justice prevail! >>We are a nation of rights and laws, after all. Let Justice prevail! I’m sure that Dimitri Simes would agree with you. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-limits-private-credit-lending-080550358.html Interesting regarding private credit being a potential stress vector into financial markets. Seems like JPM is not turning off the taps, but reducing them, somewhat. Reparations could be paid by imposing a fee on every ship traveling through the Straits. Won’t work. Go look at the level of war risk insurance that makes it not affordable to ship by tanker. This was in a article we posted on why lack of war risk policies = no ships transiting the Strait. Overly high premiums achieve the same outcome. Any level of fees that were adequate to amount to reparations would kill shipments stone cold dead. At best, this would be a tiny portion of the total needed. I’m thinking it’s just going to turn into even more of a war zone for longer. Damn if I ever considered that a camel might enjoy relaxing in the surf and this one is thoroughly enjoying it by the looks of it. You think camels and all you think of is deserts. Reminds me of a program that have/had to get kids from the rural outback and take them to coastal cities so that they could see and swim in the ocean. The sight must have been a wonder for them. “Iranian drones are shooting down interceptors Not the other way around.” Heheh! This is exactly how I have been seeing this too, since day one! ““A spate of outages, including incidents tied to the use of AI coding tools”, right on schedule” Just a heads up. A little way down the page are the words ‘Read full story’ in red. Do not forgot to open it up to read. It is a stunner as it outlays case after case how LLms have all the security architecture of Swiss cheese. I don’t even know if it can even be fixed at this stage but security is going to be a hacker’s paradise. Trump has demonstrated an existential need to dominate or to be seen as dominating every situation. When it becomes undeniably clear that this illegal War of choice is a disaster I believe he will look for something to smash dramatically to prove he is still the Big Dog. And that thing he decides to smash will likely be on the Home front as internal criticism becomes louder. Trump has no filters, he is pure Id with no restraints. If you think it’s crazy now (It is), give it 90 days. Meta Acquires Moltbook, the Social Network For AI Agents – Axios Just spitballin’, and I don’t know why the article made me think of such a thing, but I can imagine the circle-jerk financing going so far as lending to computer programs start businesses. On “A spate of outages, including incidents tied to the use of AI coding tools”, right on schedule At an employer I know, they’re now rolling out access to a third-party AI code review tool. Amusing, in light of People are really huffing glue. And this means more velocity, as software engineers (now just LLM operators) aren’t required to review code as often, because AI will do it. Watch that technical debt increase even faster over time. And all code bases worldwide are going to converge into the same style and (lack of) quality. 3x MONTHLY REVIEW 1) French Theory in the Intellectual Cold War by John Bellamy Foster https://monthlyreview.org/articles/french-theory-in-the-intellectual-cold-war/ 2) Could Capitalism Have Thrived Without Colonialism? A Commentary on Vivek Chibber’s Jacobin Radio Interview by Vijay Prashad https://monthlyreview.org/articles/could-capitalism-have-thrived-without-colonialism/ 3) Insectopolis and the Fantastic Peter Kuper by Paul Buhle https://monthlyreview.org/articles/insectopolis-and-the-fantastic-peter-kuper/ If Trump is a “Stable” genius it explains where his endless store of horse shit comes from. From Racket News. Emily Kopp interviews Jeffrey Sachs. No paywall. Jeffrey Sachs Is Trying To Fix The New York Times’ Iran War Coverage, One Email At A Time The road to regime change began 16 days after Inauguration Day. The Times isn’t interested. https://www.racket.news/p/jeffrey-sachs-is-trying-to-fix-the I did this so you don’t have to… I looked at Trump’s Truth Social account. (Don’t have to sign up to see the posts I saw). It’s all campaigning, aggravating old enemies, and the usual demonizing of “others”. What war with Iran?🤷♂️