Links 5/24/2026 | naked capitalism

Insane reversing skills

Wait for it pic.twitter.com/nuxAIxLGvh

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) May 17, 2026

Machine Learning Helps Astronomers Find 10,000 New Planet Candidates in Existing Data ZME Science

SpaceX’s Next-Gen Starship Passes Its First Flight Test Despite Snags Universe Today

Scientists Finally Think They Know Why T. rex Had Tiny Arms SciTech Daily

Data Centers Now Consume 6% of US Electricity—and the Backlash Has Begun singularityhub

COVID-19/Pandemics

Ex-CDC chief Robert Redfield fears Ebola outbreak is going to become ‘very significant pandemic’ NY Post

Why Do I Still Feel Different After the COVID-19 Pandemic? University of Colorado Anschutz

Climate/Environment

Doomsday Glacier Shows Signs of Imminent Disintegration Futurism

Farmers hold key role in fight against climate change Andolu Agency

South of the Border

Tens of Thousands Rally in Havana Against US Aggression as Cuba Prepares Citizens for War Scheerpost

Violence Looms Over Colombia’s Election Foreign Policy

Venezuela and the Perils of Ceding Sovereignty Venezuelanalysis

China?

While the rest of the world is devising different ways for drones to kill you, China’s using them to de-ice power linespic.twitter.com/H4FyjDTGC2

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 23, 2026

China set for latest space launch, with Hong Kong astronaut aboard Phys.org

China Integration Plans Touted for Human Moon Landing by 2030: “We Will Spare No Effort” Leonard David’s INSIDE OUTER SPACE

China deploys over 100 naval and coast guard vessels The Telegraph

China’s dual-track strategy to navigate superpower triangle Turkiye Today

Africa

5 facts about Africa’s population growth Pew Research Center

What Will It Take to Contain the Central Africa Ebola Outbreak? Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Africa’s capital must stay home to plug its financing gap: how it could be done The Conversation

European Disunion

Energy crisis heightens risk of poverty and social exclusion: EU Commissioner Minzatu France 24

EU green economy booms as solar energy grows at record pace. What’s the most profitable sector? Euronews

EU’s public debt could become ‘explosive’ without action, IMF warns Politico

Old Blighty

UK MPs slam digital ID rollout as a ‘fiasco’ after botched launch The Register

Families face £300 tax on British staycations: Labour ‘cash grab’ as mayors plan tourism tax in some of UK’s best-loved holiday spots Daily Mail

Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran

“This is how they treated us in front of the world, so what about the Palestinian prisoners?” Activists from the Freedom Flotilla give testimonies about being subjected to torture and abuse by Israeli forces. pic.twitter.com/YlXCOagnwT

— nadia nadou (@NadiaNadou40663) May 22, 2026

Israel pounds Gaza, Lebanon in daily breaches of ceasefires Andolu Agency

Western nations warn Israel to end illegal settlement expansion, violence Al Jazeera

“I Am a Jew”: Jeffrey Wernick’s Moral Reckoning With Netanyahu’s Israel Scheerpost

Cheap attack drones break through Israel’s Iron Dome DW

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia says 16 killed in strike on student dorm that it blamed on Ukraine France 24

Brief Frontline Report — May 21st and 22nd, 2026 Marat Khairullin substack

Iskander ballistic missiles striking targets in Kiev. pic.twitter.com/iKpdKySicO

— ayden (@squatsons) May 24, 2026

War in Ukraine led to ‘complete, final’ collapse of Euro-Atlantic security model: Russian foreign minister Andolu Agency

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Disney sued over facial recognition at parks KFOR News 4

Texas AG Sues What­sApp for ‘Lying About Pri­va­cy’ PCmag.com

Mozilla Foundation Condemns Data Collection By Cars Clean Technica

Imperial Collapse Watch

Oahu sees rise in family homelessness despite overall drop in unsheltered population Hawaii News Now

Watsonville tiny home village offers housing, hope to people experiencing homelessness KSBW Action News

Trump 2.0

Yes, Trump Was ‘Very Involved’ in His $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Deal Zeteo

The Memo: Trump battered by sea of self-inflicted troubles The Hill

Is the Working Class Finally Turning on Trump? The New Yorker

Trump Unravels in Alarming Truth Social Rampage The Daily Beast

Musk Matters

Elon Musk has given up on solar power (on Earth) TechCrunch

Blast off! Elon Musk to become world’s first trillionaire with SpaceX set for the biggest stock market listing ever This Is Money

Grok is struggling to turn Musk’s reach into enterprise trust Startup Fortune

Democrat Death Watch

The Democratic Party Is Divided (But Not How You Think) Washington Monthly

‘It has undermined whatever credibility the DNC had left’: Dems fret over chair after autopsy Politico

Immigration

Trump is waging a silent war on legal immigration The Verge

Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, to escalate deportation case to Supreme Court, challenging appeals court decision Columbia Spectator

Our No Longer Free Press

NYT publisher calls out news outlets for ‘capitulation’ to Trump administration Politico

FCC Commissioner Blasts Her Own Agency’s ‘Straight-Up Censorship’ Fueled by Trump Mediaite

Mr. Market Is Moody

Even if the Iran war ended today, US fuel prices aren’t likely to normalize this year The Guardian

Why bonds may not save investors from the next market shock: Chart of the Day Yahoo Finance

No, the Treasury Market Didn’t Just Discover the National Debt RealClearMarkets

AI

Barnes and Noble CEO Says Sure, Why Not Sell AI-Generated Books and Set Our Reputation On Fire? Futurism

Ansel Adams’ trust says AI-colorized version of his work was exhibited without permission Engadget

AI cost crisis hits tech giants as employee ‘tokenmaxxing’ backfires, sparking corporate pullback at Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon — agentic AI eats up to 1000x more tokens than standard AI Tom’s Hardware

New AI system uses cameras and thermal sensors to steer ships clear of gray whales in the San Francisco Bay Phys.org

The Bezzle

Thai police arrest 6 Nigerians running AI scams targeting older women Cryptopolitan

RFK Jr announces ‘largest autism fraud bust in American history’ with $46.6M Medicaid scheme indictment Fox News

Guillotine Watch

The most expensive bar of soap in the world is made with GOLD 😱 pic.twitter.com/xvARhbNBpK

— Cultura Colectiva+ (@ccplus) March 25, 2024

In 2001, Lam Sai-wing, a Hong Kong jeweler, built an incredibly luxurious bathroom in his jewelry store, which is often cited as one of the most expensive bathrooms in the world.

It was indeed made out of gold and precious jewels, with fixtures such as a gold toilet, gold sink,… pic.twitter.com/e6qVXZZBG8

— TheForgotThings (@TheForgotthings) April 6, 2024

Antidote du jour (via)

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here