The Criminal Enterprise Run by Monkeys Wall Street Journal (Li). No, not OpenAI.
We missed this when first ran. Seems to be a product of the smartphone era. I was there in 1993 and 1994. They were aggressive but not in this manner.
Whales ‘forced to shout’ to communicate over shipping noise Telegraph
A supervolcano nearly wiped out humanity 74,000 years ago, but humans did something incredible Science Daily (Kevin W)
A Hungarian psychologist raised three daughters to prove that any child could become a chess grandmaster through early specialization. He succeeded. Two of them became grandmasters. One became the greatest female chess player who ever lived.
Then a sports scientist looked at the… pic.twitter.com/5fzvRHMnSC
— Ihtesham Ali (@ihtesham2005) May 9, 2026
Hantavirus
How are countries responding to hantavirus? BBC
French woman was told by doctors hantavirus symptoms were just anxiety Guardian (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
Canadian Muskoxen Hit by Double Punch of Novel Diseases and Climate Change Good Men Project 🙁
A ‘triple whammy’ of chaos has triggered a downward spiral in Antarctica, scientists discover CNN
Hotter and Hotter in INDIA47.3C at Barmer today,new world highest temperature for this month so far.Brutally hot nights as well with Minimums 32/34C in Rajastan hottest spots.
The extreme heat will extend to more parts of India in the coming weeks. https://t.co/0SgmKBXHyl
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) May 11, 2026
Starting May 9th, northern China will be hit by the strongest heatwave of the year! It is currently predicted that Tmax in Hebei Province may exceed 40C on May 13th, and hundreds of weather stations are expected to break their mid-May heatwave records. @extremetemps pic.twitter.com/JR0fXgvKWg
— Jim (@yangyubin1998) May 7, 2026
‘The worst time for wheat’: US farmers face losses to extreme heat and drought Guardian
Plastic waste carries toxic chemicals through seas: Study Daily Sabah
China?
The Stakes of Trump vs. Xi Foreign Affairs. I can’t even…..
New Trump sanctions on Chinese firms: leverage on Xi or overkill? Asia Times (Kevin W)
Trump invites Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Larry Fink and other CEOs to join China trip for Xi summit CNBC (Kevin W). ZOMG, Trump betters Netanyahu’s cheekiness (of bringing a suitcase of laundry with him on official visits and having it cleaned on the US taxpayer dime). Recall China confirmed this summit at the very last minute. Chas Freeman confirms no sherpa work was done in advance. Is China expected to give these clowns an official audience? I hope it instead put them all on a tour bus. No quotes from Chinese officials in this article.
China warns against rising Japanese neo-militarism, urges sincere remorse from Japan Bastille Post
India
Modi urges Indians to WFH and limit foreign travel as Iran war continues BBC
Southeast Asia
Philippine debt service payments more than doubled to P737 billion in first quarter Manila Standard
Indonesia’s debt wall hits an economy running on borrowed time Asia Times
Thailand may face dual water risks as El Niño risk rises from May to July The Nation. If Thailand is exposed to this pattern, you can assume the rest of Southeast Asia is too, at least to a degree.
Africa
Conflicts in the Middle East are increasing dangers for whales off South Africa by shifting sea traffic into their habitats and heightening the risks of collision New Arab
Dozens killed in jihadist attacks in central Mali Aljazeera
Nigeria says dozens of terrorists killed as troops repel assault on base TRT Afrika
Rebel fighters kill at least 69 people in northeastern DR Congo Aljazeera
‘It’s like we went bankrupt overnight’: poorest Somalis suffer as piles of worthless shillings mount up Guardian
Tremors in South Sudan are a warning of worse to come Arab News
Sudan: How One of the Most Severe Humanitarian Crises Became Marginalized in the Global System Stimson
South of the Border
Venezuela’s leader to defend her country’s claim over mineral-rich Guyana region before UN court Independent
Venezuela warns of ‘serious’ environmental impact from oil spill off Trinidad and Tobago Los Angeles Times
Antipodes
New Zealand Outlines How Potential Fuel Rationing Would Work Bloomberg
European Disunion
US in closely guarded talks to open new bases in Greenland BBC. Lead story in US/Canada version of the site.
How the Iran war is impacting food production lines across Europe Sky
The real meaning of German rearmament Thomas Fazi
Germany in fresh push to buy Tomahawks after Trump row Financial Times
Old Blighty
Global Bond Vigilantes Circle UK Economy After Labour Polling Disaster Streamline
Did Starmer speech do enough to end call for him to quit? STV. The short clip from the speech is cringe-making. I know I should have more on Starmer twisting in the wind. But he is such a pathetic, vile figure that I hate having to think about him much, particularly since his political demise is certain, even if the timing is not. But UK readers have a lot at stake in where this goes, so please do pipe up in comments!
Israel v. The Resistance
Marathon marks a turning point for a Palestinian runner released from an Israeli prison ABC Australia (ma)
A deeply disturbing and meticulously documented report by historians Liat Kozma and Lee Mordechai of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem traces the starvation of Gaza over the past three years through data, testimony, official statements, food prices, aid access, and powerful… pic.twitter.com/c8x7RLrbQk
— TheMuslimLawyer (@faisalkutty) May 11, 2026
A Palestinian farmer speaks in anguish after Israeli forces demolished a greenhouse on his land in the northern Jordan Valley, pointing to vast areas being destroyed by the Israeli army. pic.twitter.com/lVS2udmxFz
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) May 11, 2026
Israel needs more troops to join ‘immediately’ amid ‘collapsing’ army TRT World
Israeli weapon fires tiny metal cubes into people in Lebanon, like Gaza Aljazeera
Gulf turns to Turkey for air defence systems amid Iran threat Middle East Eye
Yemen Faces Accelerating Economic Collapse Amid War , Regional Tensions Yemen Online
War on Iran: Senior royal says Saudi Arabia avoided Israeli plan to ‘plunge region into ruin’ Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
Trump’s ‘Unacceptable’ Answer Daniel Larison
Iran’s banks defy Trump financial sanctions to keep business as usual for regime Observer
New Not-So-Cold War
WWIII drones on Julian Macfarlane. Opening section about the Middle East but the bulk of the post is on Russia.
Finland Is On Track To Become One Of Russia’s Most Intractable Foes Andrew Korybko
Imperial Collapse Watch
Why Are Americans So Bloody Stupid? YouTube (Roy P). ZOMG, I got a few minutes into this and so far it is great.
The RICO State: How Legal Pattern Recognition Reveals the Criminal Architecture of Transnational Capital William Murphy
Yes, Death to American Sam Husseini
A History of OPEC: Why Its Crisis Is Bad News Think BRICS
Trump 2.0
Trump says he’ll move to suspend federal gasoline tax. He can’t do it on his own Associated Press (Kevin W)
Lawsuit filed over Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovations The Hill
GOP Clown Car
Why Is Susan Collins Shaking? Ken Klippenstein
Our No Longer Free Press
Nick Kristof has done a deep investigation into the Israeli practice of raping and sexually assaulting Palestinians.
Every Israeli on Twitter is accusing him of making it up, propaganda, etc.
I’ve written for NYT multiple times, they have intense fact checking.
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) May 11, 2026
Meta Is Dying. It’s About Time. New York Times (The Joker)
Economy
The Middle East conflict has triggered a “super squeeze” in the global sulphur and sulphuric acid markets, driving prices to record-breaking levels CRU
Coal shipments jump as countries seek alternatives to disrupted gas supplies Financial Times
Asia braces for a second wave of energy shocks from the Iran war Independent
Hokkaido Faces Garbage Bag Shortage as Panic Buying Spreads News Japan. This is not surprising except perhaps that it is showing up early in Japan. We have pointed out that naptha, used to make plastic, is set to run short all over Asia.
Mr. Market is Giddy
The financial system is a giant polycrisis waiting to happen Globe and Mail
AI
BIG NEWS: A senior scientist at Google DeepMind published a paper arguing AI will NEVER be conscious. Not in 10 years. Not in 100. Never.
It’s called “The Abstraction Fallacy.”
Written by Alexander Lerchner. The disclaimer says it doesn’t reflect Google’s views. You can see… pic.twitter.com/Z3HmAa5z0J
— Guri Singh (@heygurisingh) May 9, 2026
AI-powered hacking has exploded into industrial-scale threat, Google says Guardian (Kevin W). BWAHAHA.
Your AI Use Is Breaking My Brain 404 Media
????:
Only older people are buying the magic beans of AI. It’s rather sad, actually, seeing senior citizens bamboozled into believing that another industrial revolution is imminent. But they partly WANT to believe, perhaps to atone for their generational failure to make a better world. https://t.co/kPWXtFXLhH
— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) May 11, 2026
Class Warfare
NEW: Auto loan and credit card delinquencies in US reach all-time high while stock market also nears record highs according to CNBC data.
— Dominic Michael Tripi (@DMichaelTripi) May 11, 2026
The Serpent in the Garden: A.J.A. Woods’s history of the ‘cultural Marxism conspiracy’ Commonweal (Anthony L)
Tesla strike moves beyond Sweden’s borders – IF Metall blocks foreign work Dagens Arbete via machine translation (Micael T)
It will now be prohibited for municipalities to compete with companies Tidningen Näringslive via machine translation (Micael T)
Why should Swedes consume when half the country is going backwards? Aftonbladet via machine translation (Micael T)
Antidote du jour (Nat):
A bonus:
A cat discovered sunlight and didn’t understand why it suddenly felt hotter. 🤗🤗 pic.twitter.com/zknu8ALhZT
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) May 9, 2026
A second bonus:
This dog is a genius, look at the technique he uses to remove that wheel. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UfGLsucvYD
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) May 10, 2026
And a third:
Impossible😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/8iOBbJ91Bb
— cats with powerful impression 🐾 (@catshealdeprsn) May 10, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
