Links 2/3/2026 | naked capitalism

Residents held hostage in their homes by thousands of feral camels Sky (resilc)

It’s raining iguanas: Reptiles drop from trees by the handful during South Florida cold snap Local10 (Micael T). Remember Magnolia?

Ray Bradbury and the Practice of Human Agency The One Percent Rule

#COVID-19/Pandemics

Officials warn of tuberculosis outbreak at California high school KTLA (IM Doc)

Impact of COVID-19 on ischemic stroke patterns and outcomes: a multicenter retrospective study using propensity score matching

🔥HOSPITAL= MASK-UP!

➡️ A multicenter retrospective study from Saudi Arabia analysed 820 acute ischemic stroke patients admitted to three hospitals… pic.twitter.com/tGNVljhTIM

— Harry Spoelstra (@HarrySpoelstra) February 3, 2026

⚠️ Covid causes cancer https://t.co/vqUgQBGafb pic.twitter.com/TPn5SySoBr

— Joe (@LTSmash420) February 2, 2026

Climate/Environment

Climate crisis pushes global food system to breaking point Food Navigator

Small-scale farmers produce more of the rich world’s food than previously thought – new study The Conversation

Climate Change As A Geopolitical Force: From Arctic Militarization To Climate Wars Eurasia Review

Plastic pollution may be supercharging algae blooms Earth

Stratospheric Warming Confirmed: Polar Vortex Collapse to Bring Major Weather Disruption in the Coming Weeks Severe Weather

Threat of global warming looms large on next winter Olympics despite being at a high-altitude Alpine city: Study Down to Earth

UK butterfly numbers flat despite hottest summer on record News Shopper

China?

Beijing is shifting the balance: Xi Jinping has taken control of Taiwan decisions TopWar (Micael T)

China bans hidden car door handles over safety concerns BBC (Kevin W)

India

Lives at stake as man-elephant conflict continues unabated in Coimbatore forest division Times of India

India’s wealthy embrace a new luxury symbol: water Reuters

South of the Border

Cuba on the brink as Trump turns up the pressure: ‘There is going to be a real blockade’ Guardian (Kevin W)

Unions Mobilise Against Paraguay’s Pension Overhaul Paraguay Post

Netanyahu Says The IDF Was BETRAYED By America Young Turks, YouTube. Young Turks can be a bit strident for my tastes, but this is a real find. Lots of good documentation.

European Disunion

Why do they hate Europe? Rebelion via machine translation (Micael T)

European stocks set for sharp declines as global market fears are reignited CNBC

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s Future of Europe Warning Karl Sanchez

The fight against Russians is depriving Latvia of healthcare and education Vzglyad via machine translation. Micael T: “It is obvious that the Ukraine war is not a war against Russia but against EU non-rich people.”

Sweden stood for reason, democracy, rights and security D!kk0 via machine translation (Micael T)

Swedish drinking water and nuclear power dependent on Russian-owned technology: “Security threat” Dagens Arbeter via machine translation. Micael T: “Another case of cerebral anti-Putinitis. How about asking the right question: WTF can’t Swedish municipalities buy from Swedish firms, or even better, build themselves?”

Old Blighty

Mandelson reported to police by SNP and Reform after files suggest he sent government information to Epstein BBC

Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson will go down in history as crawlers and creeps Irish Times (PlutoniumKun)

Israel v. The Resistance

We buried my aunt Mary last Friday Middle East Reflection (Aurelien). A Palestinian Christian retrospective.

* * *

Trump TACOs on Iran Through Negotiations Moon of Alabama (Kevin W). Includes a very nice shout-out.

Alastair Crooke : Trump’s Iran Strategy: All Bluster, No Exit Judge Napolitano, YouTube. Key point: if the US attacks Iran, a global Shia jihad against the US and any allies will start. 13% of the Saudi population is Shia…

✈️ US Air Assets in the Middle East

This is probably not very easily digested by most people, but it is still a fairly comprehensive listing of the air assets sent to the Middle East in recent weeks.

As best I can estimate, there have probably been, at most, about four dozen… https://t.co/eUDVobOn91

— Will Schryver (@imetatronink) February 2, 2026

Gossip via e-mail from a spooky contact. Note that I can’t verify. But if I am hearing this rumor, the Israelis and US have to be too:

Btw, Iran has been integrated with Chinese sattelites, Chinese Air defence and the Chinese GPS system. So they can turn off/spoof the GPS over Iran. Tomahawks use GPS as their primary guidance. The Chinese have very good Satellites over the M.E – it was them that captured the hits on the Eisenhower and the offloading of 20+ casualties to Saudi Arabia. Israel needs the Iranians taken out or it’ll destroy the myth of Israeli dominance. If Iranian missiles hit the Israeli power stations and the water system then Israel is not viable.

Meet the former fashion blogger and shady doctor behind the ‘30,000 dead’ Iran psy-op GrayZone (Kevin W)

Syraqistan

Another failed state has disappeared due to US betrayal Vzgylad. Micael T: It is not the first time. Radio War Nerd has made the point that the Kurds are thrown under the bus everytime. They are too corrupt and engaged in internal conflicts to learn.”

New Not-So-Cold War

Trump slashes tariffs on India after Modi agrees to stop buying Russian oil CNN (Lee). Was Modi dumb enough to think this oil is fungible? India’s refineries are not tuned to Venezuela’s super heavy crude. Or is he betting that production never increases much so this is a largely empty promise?

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev: Russia ‘has not found’ any submarines Trump said he would deploy International Affairs

BREAKING NEWS FROM MIAMI, DMITRIEV OFFERS WITKOFF BIGGER BRIBES — BREAKING NEWS FROM TEHERAN, TRUMP IS RETREATING John Helmer

The Tragedy of Ukraine: From Crisis (κρίσις) to ‘Forgetting Evil’ (μεμνήσι κακείν) Nicholai Petro

Siberian Paths and Roads of Russia Global Affairs (Micael T)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

“The TSA’s New $45 Fee to Fly Without ID is Illegal,” Says Regulatory Expert Frommer’s (Paul R). Sadly, the article describes why it it a legally losing proposition to fight. Some lawyers need to refuse and represent themselves, or reciprocally agree to represent each other.

A WhatsApp bug lets malicious media files spread through group chats Malwarebytes

Imperial Collapse Watch

Lawrence Wilkerson: Trump Withdrawing from the Middle East & Europe? YouTube

US Consolidates Control Over Proxies Amid War on Multipolarism Near Eastern Outlook (Micael T)

The Death of Arms Control Daniel Larison

Why is the US weakening the dollar? Vzglyad via machine translation. Micael T: “To hurt US non-rich people.”

Trump 2.0

Trump says Republicans should ‘nationalize’ elections Politico (Kevin W)

Trump’s 75-Country Green Card Freeze Challenged in Lawsuit Bloomberg

Executive Power Stress Test: America’s Drift from Governance to Assertion Near Eastern Outlook (Micael T)

The Justice Department Beclowns Itself (Again) Steve Vladeck

L’affaire Epstein

MONOLOGUE: One big dirty club George Galloway, YouTube. Galloway rises to an impressive and entirely warranted level of high dudgeon. If nothing else, listen to the Bill Gates tidbit staring at 8:20.

Why is the BBC defending Trump over the Epstein allegations? Council Estate Media

ICE Rampage

Trump’s ICE Problem—and Ours Washington Monthly

French tech company Capgemini says selling US subsidiary after ICE backlash FRANCE 24 English, YouTube (resilc). Sadly just means a US actor like a PE firm will buy it.

DHS Says Critical ICE Surveillance Footage From Abuse Case Was Actually Never Recorded, Doesn’t Matter 404 Media (Dr. Kevin)

Senate Republican backs requiring federal immigration officers to wear body cameras The Hill. Former Army Ranger Greg Stoker contends that bodycams are much more total surveillance than a citizen protection devices. Cops turn them on to capture whos is in a crowd, then regularly turn them off when they are about to intervene.

Fed

Kevin Warsh – Wall Street’s man CADTM (Micael T)

Kevin Warsh and Weathervane Economics Paul Krugman

Can Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh avoid becoming Arthur Burns? Asia Times (Kevin W)

GOP Clown Car

Texas AG Ken Paxton, GOP officials call on Republicans to ‘fight’ for Tarrant County Forth Worth Report

Economy

I just don’t have a good feeling about this’: Top economist Claudia Sahm says the economy quietly shifted and everyone’s now looking at the wrong alarm Fortune (resilc)

US economy: beneath the bombast CADTM (Micael T)

The catastrophe bond market shattered a host of records in 2025 — and many expect another banner year as investors flock to what has been an often-overlooked asset class CNBC

Geopolitical tensions and commodity repricing hit smartphone supply chains Cyprus Mail

The State Of The $2.52 Trillion AI Bubble, January 2026 Forbes

Experts Growing Worried About World in Which AI Takes Your Job and You Have No Way to Provide for Yourself Futurism (Kevin W)

Guillotine Watch

March for Billionaires. Paul R: “Terrifyingly I can’t tell if this is a joke.”

Class Warfare

Is inherited wealth bad? aeon. Micael T: “Idiocracy is implemented from above as we experience in Europe. An inbred political and economic elite having never had to work for a living destroy EU because they can still go by on their wealth.”

Record year for affordable housing construction — Seattle leads the nation Rent Cafe

The business community has received the labor immigration they deserve Dagens Arena (Micael T via machine translation)

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus:

Man discovered that skunks sound like muppets and found it’s the cutest thing ever

pic.twitter.com/SxYsZ784BQ

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) February 2, 2026

A second bonus: