‘I don’t consider myself a hero’: 13-year-old boy describes ‘superhuman’ swim to save family BBC
resilc owns the farm and has made some changes from the regular program.
Ultra-processed foods should be treated more like cigarettes than food – Guardian research. Paul R: “‘UPF is designed to promote addiction and consumption and should be regulated like cigarettes, researchers say.'”
#New Coronavirus Infection/Pandemic
Nipah virus: New cases occur in India, Asia is on high alert NBC. Although there have been no cases of infection in Thailand, surveillance has been further strengthened. Nifa’s fatality rate is over 40%
NIH director admits after receiving criticism @SenSanders: 1) The best way to stop dietary fads is to vaccinate children against them. 2) No single vaccine causes autism. RFK Jr. is wrong. pic.twitter.com/B9aKV6dRpD
— Eric Feigl Ding (@DrEricDing) February 3, 2026
yes.
It was in the winter of 2021-2021 that our two children here both contracted the coronavirus and began having seizures within weeks of each other.
They weren’t the last.
The most recent seizure I had for the first time right after COVID-19 was just two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/CC6mgc0Ywr
— Turn (@1goodtern) February 3, 2026
Climate/Environment
Ocean heat goes ballistic
Meteorologists warn of unusually fast arctic collapse forming on Earth in February
heat wave in north africa
Unseasonably hot weather from central Africa to northern Africa.
In Tindouf, Algeria, the temperature was recorded at 30.0 degrees Celsius, tying the record for the hottest January day on record.
The next day will be tough:
Temperatures can reach up to 35 degrees in Algeria and Libya, making it a tropical night.
Records of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean pic.twitter.com/Kugm2z1UUb
— Abnormal temperatures around the world (@extremetemps) January 31, 2026
Amazon deforestation could increase by 30% as major traders pull out of historic soybean deal Mongabay
Some tropical lands could heat nearly twice as much as the oceans due to climate change, sediment records suggest PhysOrg
China?
Are there any signs of hope in China’s real estate market? Not so, developers tell the Economic Times
China bans US, Israeli security software Kevin Walmsley
I live in Asia now, and I take China’s virtues with a grain of salt. The fact that the United States completely squandered its enormous advantages, that it was not a benevolent victors when the Soviet Union collapsed, that it was foolish enough to think it could control China “because it is a democracy” when it was not entitled to preferential WTO status, and that it has been and continues to be openly predatory on many fronts in an attempt to play catch-up, clearly pales in comparison to China’s badness. But that does not make China a role model, which is the strange default position of many commentators. Some may hope that China has no serious intention of using finance as a means of dominating the international economy. But we should not assume that great powers have good intentions or are not interested in furthering their national interests first and foremost. Chinese businessmen are notoriously ruthless. See Zero Dollar Factory for one of many examples.
Over the past few days, you’ve probably read numerous headlines about President Xi Jinping calling for the renminbi to “become the world’s reserve currency.”
That’s true, he actually said that. But, as is often the case, Western media misses the forest for the trees.
Excerpting this… pic.twitter.com/lkRelaqlJn
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 3, 2026
Mr. Xi Jinping talks about China’s financial system Mr. Carl Sanchez. With a little synchronicity. Chuck L., who sent the tweet above, asked if Xi Jinping had read Hudson. Sanchez asked Hudson for his opinion. Among other things, Hudson pointed out that China and Mr. Xi have followed that policy by not taxing land to prevent landlordism, and by prioritizing U.S.-trained students, such as neoliberal economics students.
India
Note that Prime Minister Modi has insisted that key agricultural sectors, especially dairy products (already subject to regulations that U.S. producers are unwilling to abide by), will be protected. but:
>Customs duty charged by India on 🇺🇸: 0%
>Taxes imposed by the US on 🇮🇳: 18%
Then compare this to other countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has struck the worst trade deal in India’s history.
Prime Minister Modi’s total surrender to the US. pic.twitter.com/WQP3fLiMyJ
— Mohit Chauhan (@mohitlaws) February 4, 2026
Russia downplays India-US trade deal amid celebrations Economic Times
Why India will struggle to reduce dependence on Russian oil Wall Street Journal
India reacts to deal with US with deep discount on Russian oil tests Bloomberg
Southeast Asia
Vietnam is planning another possible war against the country by the United States, according to internal documents.
The Vietnamese government is concerned about intervention aimed at overthrowing the Communist Party and a U.S.-backed “color revolution” (i.e. regime change operation).
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam… pic.twitter.com/pcXn0OdlI8
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) February 3, 2026
China Briefing: Execution of Myanmar fraudster executives, $500 billion in trade facilitation for post-coup Irrawaddy regime
Africa
UAE empire’s linchpin hits Africa’s wall: Riyadh pulls the rug The Cradle
US may make Andrew Korybko an offer he cannot refuse to the Sahel Alliance
south of the border
Mexican president promises to send aid to Cuba despite US efforts to cut oil access Guardian
🚨Breaking news
Russia forgives $30 billion in Cuban debt 🇷🇺🇨🇺
▪️ Foreign Minister Lavrov announced that Russia will provide financial and political support to Cuba in the face of an economic crisis deepening due to the blockage of energy supplies by the United States.
▪️Moscow continues… pic.twitter.com/yE79PYVlZb
— Alexei Berezutski🇷🇺🎖 (@aleksbrz11) February 3, 2026
What is happening in Panama at a “Chinese-owned” port (which is not actually Chinese-owned) is completely unusual. After the US failed to get BlackRock to buy the port, they, with the help of the Panamanian Supreme Court, essentially stole the port outright.
i haven’t… pic.twitter.com/K6uwaGfRq8
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 4, 2026
discord in europe
🇺🇸🇷🇴🇪🇺 The US government directly attacked the EU for essentially falsifying the election in Romania!
This is quite strange if you think about it for a moment. The United States claims that Europe is staging elections in a way that allows its own candidates to win, which is not democratic. pic.twitter.com/5Xj2ClBqeK
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) February 3, 2026
Have you noticed that you suddenly don’t hear anything about Greenland? Not even from Trump.
As previously discussed, Denmark’s largest pension fund began selling U.S. bonds after President Trump claimed he held all the cards. In response, President Trump issued a threat to all of Europe:
— BonkDaCarnivore (@BonkDaCarnivore) February 2, 2026
old blighty
Prime Minister Mandelson to resign from House of Lords after saying he had ‘let the country down’ over Epstein leaking information to BBC
Starmer to release Mandelson file Telegraph archive version not yet available.
Sarah Ferguson’s emails to Epstein show growing despair BBC (Kevin W)
More people despair over ‘broken Britain’ than during financial crisis – Telegraph
British factories hit hard by Trump’s tariffs cut exports to the US The Times
Palestinian action group plans march against Isaac Herzog’s visit despite protest restrictions The Guardian
israel vs resistance
The truth about the death toll in Gaza – Part 2: The extreme underestimation Feroze Sidhwa
War Postponed Julian Macfarlane
The US is shocked by Iran’s attempt to seize the tanker. Drone flies near warship Jantaka Reporter, YouTube
‼ ️🤔 Intensifying conflict with Iran
This is just a theory I came up with for what happened the past two days.
First of all, CENTCOM threatened Iran about drone observations of Carrier Strike Group 3. Never mind that US ships are in international waters and drones are flying…
— Will Shriver (@imetatronink) February 3, 2026
Will President Trump accept Iran’s terms? Larry Johnson. The US cannot agree. Trump scrapped the JCPOA. Israel has also never given up on its plan to destroy Iran and remains a major influence in the Belt and Road. The purpose of any agreement would be to reassure Iran and facilitate further attacks.
important. Click for more information:
🚨🇮🇷 US panics: Iran’s Hormuz-2 missile uses its own emissions to target ships
This missile changes the logic of naval survival. It is built to track fleets that rely on radar, datalinks, and electronic superiority, turning those advantages into disadvantages.
Holmes 2 is… pic.twitter.com/ANXYnY7sdt
— NewRulesGeopolitics (@NewRulesGeo) February 3, 2026
US sanctions against Iran have failed, but why do they continue? American conservatives. resilc: “Because sadistic Israel wants them.”
A new war that’s not so cold war
Europe today: Russia attacks Kiev as peace talks continue in Abu Dhabi Euronews
Ukraine – “Security” Details – Why Energy Ceasefire Ended Alabama’s Moon (Kevin W)
Russia ready to respond to US weapons deployment to Greenland: Ryabkov Al Jazeera
How Europe compiled the Russian government-in-exile’s anti-Spiegel message using machine translation (Michael T.)
imperial collapse watch
Predatory Hegemon Stephen Walt, Foreign Affairs
Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court said, “Money is speech” Jacobin (Chuck L.)
UN at risk of ‘imminent financial collapse’, secretary-general warns BBC
Trump 2.0
Trump team holds daily meetings for revenge New Republic (resilc)
Trump furious over further mass resignations, speaks with Henry Littman and Fed (YouTube)
Revival of the madman theory? When it comes to foreign policy, unpredictability is different than before The Conversation (Kevin W)
US homebuilder is working on plans to develop up to 1 million Trump Homes, Bloomberg News reports Reuters (Kevin W)
Lafaire Epstein
Clinton agrees to testify against Epstein in contempt of Congress BBC
Epstein and Ukraine: A match made in hell RT (Kevin W)
Mr. Epstein held a structural position, but who replaced him? Ian Welsh (Michael T.)
ICE Rampage
Whoever this guy is in Minnesota, I want to buy him a beer!!
“Put your weapons away, you idiot. No one is threatening you.”
pic.twitter.com/AUzGdyoUYX https://t.co/WuoFNC00VF
— Call to Activism (@CalltoActivism) February 3, 2026
Reverse Palantir: Inside the Online War to Identify ICE Agents (Exclusive) Immigration Insider. important.
How to shoot ICE Wired (resilc)
U.S. judge rescinds DHS order to shoot evidence, Noem pledges body camera Reuters (Paul R)
Montreal Canadiens under voluntary lockdown before game in Minneapolis New Republic (resilc)
Democrats are the worst. I’m retiring because “Democrats are too charitable.”
Democrats ignore calls for closure to continue, block ICE funding from Axova
republican clown car
Dan Crenshaw’s Second Amendment clip backfires after City Hall Egbert debacle
Our press is no longer free
Why aren’t her fellow White House correspondents defending her? Why do reporters collectively condone these Trump attacks on their members, especially their female members? What happened to the sense of solidarity? https://t.co/dDcG1nNVuM
— Mehdirhasan (@mehdirhasan) February 4, 2026
Mr. Market is edgy
Asian software stocks plunge as U.S. peers decline on concerns about AI-driven disruption CNBC
I personally advised last September that central bank gold purchases were relatively stable and that the surge in gold demand currently driving up gold prices was due to sustained wage growth in gold-loving cultures in China, India, West Asia, and East Asia.
Once you own a home… https://t.co/vTRjseTgAZ pic.twitter.com/KSWDIRW6DN
— Kathleen Tyson (@Kathleen_Tyson_) February 3, 2026
A.I.
AI agent calculations do not match (resilc)
SpaceX bails out xAI in huge deal — what this means for Tesla electrek (Paul R)
Korea worries about market stability due to soaring bond prices of AI giants
I visited AI’s Pornhub – more terrifying than funny by Safoura Jolfaei (Micael T)
basil
The Wall Street Journal’s cryptocurrency storage strategy is being unraveled. We warned you about this when Sailor first wobbled….
animal spirits joe costello
Tether withdrew from a $20 billion fundraising plan after investor backlash from the Financial Times. There is no archive version yet.
class war
A meditation on a delivery robot maneuvering to avoid a homeless man on the sidewalk Caitlin Johnston (Kevin W.)
Antidote (via):
Bonus (Lee):
Second bonus:
A lamb gently climbs on top of its mother seeking comfort and warmth
— Science Girl (@sciencegirl) February 4, 2026
Click here for yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour.
