The oxygen you breathe is determined by trace amounts of ocean components Science Daily (Kevin W)
#New Coronavirus Infection/Pandemic
The Price of Denial Anthony Leonardi (fk)
Climate/Environment
Ocean temperatures just hit new worst record Scientific American
🌊🌡📈
Temperate sea surface temperatures reached record highs again in both hemispheres in 2025.
This is the third year in a row!
Note that the y-axis is different. @ECMWF ERA5 data. pic.twitter.com/eq7zd06r2g
— Leon Simmons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8) January 9, 2026
La Niña collapse begins: How a major Pacific inversion will change weather patterns in 2026 Severe weather
Asia’s historic heat wave
Record heat from Middle East to Japan
Records are already falling in China:
Changyang, 23.1℃, the hottest day in January history
The next day, thousands of records will rain down across Asia, making it the most record-breaking event in Asian history. https://t.co/gMUWh7Rn94
— Abnormal temperatures around the world (@extremetemps) January 12, 2026
Climate, pests and pollution increase crop losses across India SciDevNet
Scientists discover hidden plastic cloud floating above Chinese cities
toilet
Drinking water crisis erupts in India after deadly disease outbreak Independent
Tunisia suffers from severe water shortage APA News
The Western Cape faces a worsening water crisis as consumption soars and municipalities across the province sound the alarm over IOL.
China?
US Embassy in China denounces ‘coercion’ after President Trump imposes 25% tariffs on Iranian trading partners South China Morning Post (Garst)
Carney heads to Beijing as President Trump’s ‘America First’ policy forces Canada to rethink trade The Guardian (Kevin W)
Japan
Japan to start deep-sea rare earth drilling to curb dependence on China Hurriyet Daily News
South Korea
North Korea warns of ‘terrible consequences’ after drone attack The Times
North Korea slams Japan for seeking revisions to three important national security documents The Korea Times
Africa
Pakistan’s allegedly planned arms deal with Sudan portends troubles for the UAE in Africa Andrew Koribko
south of the border
‘The real mastermind’: Venezuelan security chief with $25 million bounty on his head Guardian (resilc)
Lula’s investment in anti-fascist Brazilian film wins grand prize at Golden Globes Mike Elk
discord in europe
Greenland: “U.S. takeover is unacceptable under any circumstances” Guardian (resilc)
Republicans introduce bill to make Greenland the 51st state The Hill (Kevin W)
We had previously stated that NATO’s military could detain President Trump in Greenland because:
BREAKING: President Trump orders military to plan invasion of NATO allies
The generals said no.
The Mail on Sunday reported that President Donald Trump has directed the Joint Special Operations Command to develop detailed plans for an invasion of Greenland.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is resisting… https://t.co/RcaGJK9GAn pic.twitter.com/XNWczslEsc
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) January 11, 2026
Germany plans North Atlantic Treaty Organization ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission to protect Greenland Telegram (resilc)
Tech billionaire backing Greenland bid wants to build ‘free city’
Trump is ready to take Greenland. The EU should act first and offer membership to Guardian members. Michael T.: “The German Archidiot has an idea.”
* * *
EU arms loan payments will start in March, defense chiefs of EU countries tell the Financial Times
No end in sight to Germany’s economic crisis The Telegraph
Marine Le Pen appears in court to appeal transplant conviction France 24
old blighty
Number of people seeking debt support after Christmas in UK rises to ‘unprecedented’ record Tribune Online
israel vs resistance
“Winter Blankets for Refugee Children” Patrick Lawrence
War is pushing Gaza’s children to the brink – ‘Like the living dead’ Science Daily
Israel launches new attack in southern Lebanon after evacuation order issued France 24
Israel continues to destroy and build Gaza, New York Times
Yemen’s southern forces ‘refuse’ to unite under Saudi coalition Middle East Online
* * *
US cargo plans have been flooding into the Persian Gulf since December 1 Larry Johnson
Iranians rally behind government as government condemns US, Israeli violence Middle East Eye (resilc)
Russia supplied the hardware.
China has published a strategy book.
Iran has just proven that it works.
Starlink: 80% packet loss.
Expert who has been monitoring Iranian internet for 20 years: “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life”
Is there a consensus that “LEO satellites are not jammed”?
Died.
Wall Street… https://t.co/nxVpXHE2GC pic.twitter.com/Jd9S7y0dOG
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) January 11, 2026
Seed M. Marandi: Violent Insurrection and the Impending Massive War Glenn Diesen, YouTube. important.
Regime change uprising in Iran fails sooner than Alabama expected (Kevin W)
The economic roots of the Iranian protests > Project Syndicate (via Zeteo)
A new war that’s not so cold war
Ukraine’s power grid situation worsens + Oleshnik BDA Simplicius newly established
The Coalition has achieved nothing Ian Proud
Well, from Politico’s Morning Europe Newsletter:
INTO THE ROOM: The unthinkable is now being considered in the European Union: Should the continent begin peace negotiations with a criminal war?As President Donald Trump ramps up efforts to end the war in Moscow, Russia faces the choice of opening its own diplomatic channels with Russian President Vladimir Putin or risk letting the United States dictate the terms of a final Ukraine peace deal.
big brother is watching over you
Lawyer: Police have a new ‘social score’ that classifies you as a threat Hampton Act, YouTube. It will conveniently tell you which settings to disable or enable on your iPhone or Android to reduce data extraction. She missed some things even though I told the tech lady to do so. Surprisingly, it’s not recommended to turn off WiFi saving if you specifically want to use it (for my privacy, I’m perfectly fine with paying for the connection, but I’m guessing this is an abnormal practice). My rideshare app asks me to turn on WiFi to facilitate geolocation, but it’s pretty poor otherwise, despite GPS. I prefer to type pickup.
UK expands online safety law to require pre-emptive scanning of digital communications Take Back the Net (AG)
imperial collapse watch
US attacks boat with civilian-like aircraft New York Times (resilc)
The big downside to President Trump’s military success: American conservatives. resilc: “Like Yemen?”
From Ireland to Gaza, hunger is the norm Middle East Eye
Trump 2.0
The Burger Empire Strikes Back Charles McBride (Michael T.)
New high of 45% in US, recognized as political independents Gallup (resilc)
Washington’s new lobbyist: Paid online influencers with few rules Wall Street Journal
trump vs powell
Former Fed chiefs attack Justice Department investigation into Jay Powell Financial Times. lead story
Gold, silver storm set to record as Fed hit by Justice Department subpoena Bloomberg
President Trump’s latest attack on the Fed is a gift to China Asia Times (Kevin W)
ICE on the Rampage
Many Tweets containing videos of ICE abuse are blocked from embedding, like this one. However, some things can be shared more widely.
Do you know who else went door to door? It was Hitler’s Nazis who arrested my friend Werner Reich at the age of 14 and put him in three extermination camps. He lectured until his death to warn us about this https://t.co/YXDzVGZK9S
— Sandy Bachom 📹 (@sandibachom) January 13, 2026
Christopher Armitage’s first 72 hours in Minneapolis and how he made ICE agents scream “Make America Great Again”
“Psycho!” JD Vance vs. Ryan fight for Breakpoint in new ICE video, YouTube. Punching down is a sign of weakness
Immigration officer fears ICE backlash after shooting of Ken Klippenstein
“Stupod B*tch”: GoFundMe as Minnesota ICE agents cool the New Republic (resilc)
US Border Patrol agents intentionally step in front of a moving vehicle to justify firing on their country
Can the United States seriously scold the people who came here to crush Somalia so thoroughly? responsible national strategy
health care
Republican attacks on the Affordable Care Act give Democrats an opportunity to take small businesses to court Washington Monthly
Deshabille Democratic Party
This local lawmaker thinks the Democratic Party has lost its mind. She has a point. new york times
Our press is no longer free
Progressive Juan Cole challenges California’s Palestine exception to the First Amendment in court (resilc)
#resting. This year’s Adelaide Writers Festival has been cancelled. And they apologized to Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah for how this decision was worded.
The complete report is @SMH pic.twitter.com/dsHgFpsJzV
— Peter Fitzsimmons (@Peter_Fitz) January 13, 2026
economy
Geopolitics will redraw the trade map. Geopolitical tensions between US and Venezuela highlight global economic and trade vulnerability to political conflict Bangkok Post
Mr. Market is dizzy.
Global interest rate path splits as Trump pushes for change at Fed Bloomberg
A.I.
Let’s be honest: Generative AI isn’t doing all that well Gary Marcus
Malaysia, Indonesia become first countries to block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images Associated Press
class war
Line workers’ pockets: Unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices by payday lenders of earned wages National Consumer Law Center
Antidote (via):
And bonus:
When your best friend is a gelding 💙 (Yes, he has been told many times to be careful) pic.twitter.com/bL90IYu9KJ
— Danielle Scheele (@ScheeleDanielle) January 10, 2026
Second bonus:
This marmot is being bathed by his owner pic.twitter.com/cEjO25Ey7w
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) January 11, 2026
And third:
Newborn baby tiger cub and mother
— Science Girl (@sciencegirl) January 11, 2026
Click here for yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour.
