That water clarity is an engineering decision, and the math behind it is wilder than the video.
Roman aqueducts ran on gravity alone. No pumps, no pressure systems. Engineers carved channels with a gradient so shallow it borders on absurd. The Pont du Gard in southern France… https://t.co/ZE7ByWEkO2
— Aakash Gupta (@aakashgupta) May 25, 2026
This prehistoric fish may explain how animals first walked on Earth Science Daily (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
Oceania is living its most extraordinary heat in history with thousands of records smashed every day ,everywhere,broken and rebroken continuosly.History was made again in MARSHALL ISLANDSMin 28.9C MajuroHOTTEST NIGHT EVER RECORDED IN MARSHALL ISLANDS pic.twitter.com/Arg0goEwgO
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) May 26, 2026
GLOBAL WARMING RECORD MAY HEAT HITS EUROPE AND ENGLANDHuge fossil fueled heat dome is scorching all western Europe and Enland, relatively unsual for England to be hit this hard. At 1.45°C global.#heatwave #globalwarming #climatechange pic.twitter.com/b5epjmqmy2
— Peter D Carter (@PCarterClimate) May 25, 2026
China?
Brussels Blames China. The Data Point Elsewhere The East is Read
Stable US-China ties? It won’t last long, Evan Medeiros says South China Morning Post (guurst)
The US Has Demanded an “Open Door” to China Since 1899 Finn Andreen (Micael T)
India
The ‘cockroaches’ India’s elite created — and can’t exterminate Asia Times (Kevin W)
The Iran War Is Coming for Your Diet Coke Bloomberg. So far only in India where Diet Coke parties are A Thing. Subcontinentals are more subject to diabetes at normal body weights than Caucasians, so this is not quite as bad from a health perspective than it might seem (but those caramel colorings are not good for you, even before you get to the aspartame).
Southeast Asia
Indonesia faces ‘vicious’ stagflation Nikkei
Africa
Unrest in Somalia’s southwest as federalists battle regional force APANews
Drones turn Sudan’s ‘forgotten’ war into a relentless civilian killing field Los Angeles Times
In Sudan’s war economy, gold keeps flowing as miners risk mercury and collapse Independent
The speaker of Senegal’s parliament says he is resigning, two days after his close ally was fired as prime minister in a deepening political crisis Aljazeera
‘Tinubu’s borrowing in 24 months surpasses 55 years’ debt record’ Guardian Nigeria
South of the Border
Cuba thanks China for rice shipment amid worsening humanitarian conditions Aljazeera
Guyana engages allies after back-to-back attacks on GDF patrols near Venezuelan border News Source
Brazil debt crisis swells with over 82 million behind on payments Nikkei
Global market volatility threatens one of Milei’s key goals: a return to international debt markets Buenos Aires Herald
Peru sends four tons of food to Bolivia and joins humanitarian airlift over blockades MercoPress
Colombia: “Serious deterioration” of security in Catatumbo after a new massacre UN.org
European Disunion
The EU is disappointed with Hungary’s new prime minister because of Russia Vzglayd via machine translation (Michael T). Micael T:
This is the highest or lowest level of tragicomedy: “The politician reminded his European colleagues of Russia’s unchangeable geographic position”
Apparently one has to explain to these people that the largest country on earth doesn’t sail away or swap continents just like that.
‘Turn off the juice of the rulers!’ Who are the Volcano Group, mystery saboteurs behind a five-day Berlin blackout? Guardian (Micael T)
Greenlanders ‘love and embrace the United States,’ Jeff Landry says after visit Politico
Old Blighty
Bank lending to UK businesses falls to lowest level in nearly 30 years Financial Times
Britain rejects Nato plan for extra Ukraine military aid Telegraph (Micael T)
Britain curbs electricity trading after straining Europe’s power grids Financial Times
Can Scotland still feed itself – and what happens if global supply chains fail? Herald Scotland
The Protection Racket: why is Sturgeon free tonight? Robin McAlpine (Colonel Smithers)
Israel v. The Resistance
Jesus. Our Brains Are Normalizing Atrocity. What the Hell is Happening to Us? BettBeat Media. While this is accurate for many of us and some of it is due to movies showing graphic violence. But occasionally even a written description can cut through the numbing, like of Palenstian parents trying to pick up the bloody pulp that was their child and put it in a pillowcase for burial. And it goes on and on and on in Gaza:
There’s a video on the timeline today of a Palestinian man weeping over the body of his dead 6-year-old daughter. She was killed in an Israeli attack on a tent. There is no ceasefire. There was never a ceasefire. And they have never stopped slaughtering the children of Gaza.
— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) May 25, 2026
A related phenomenon is not much acknowledged in polite company: the way the press keeps people in nominally civilized societies well away from horrors experienced on a widespread basis in many parts of the world. The reason protests against the Vietnam War took off was not merely resistance to the draft but also the fact that television gave a sense, even if still sanitized, of the savagery of conflict. Israel genocide in Gaza is a special case due to the gleeful barbarity of Zionists who ought to have their licenses to the human race revoked. The US is not merely complicit but actively seeking to profit. The rest of the world does nothing except hand-wring even though genocide conventions impose a duty to intervene.
But what about the horrors that take place that the media barely acknowledges or at best, provides anodyne accounts? And the worst is it is because they occur in places that Trump calls dirtbag countries and/or to non-whites. This is still sanitized and thus pale compared to actual events because a fictionalized witness account, but this is still a tiny window on horrors taking place daily on a mass basis:
* * *
Memorial Day: When Israel Killed 34 Men on the USS Liberty Sam Husseini
* * *
Israeli organisation threatens legal action against Canadian Museum for Human Rights over Palestine exhibition The Art Newspaper (Kevin W). Has Israel backers not heard of the Streisand Effect? They seem determined to take action that will only get Israel even more hated.
Palestinian UN ambassador withdraws General Assembly vice presidency bid after US pressure Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
Not just the US: How 51 countries armed Israel during Gaza war Aljazeera
West Bank health system near collapse as debt crisis deepens Arab News
Netanyahu RUSHED to Jerusalem HOSPITAL
His office only confirmed the transfer AFTER Hebrew-language media broke the story and forced their hand.
Netanyahu was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center on Monday evening. The nature of the treatment was not disclosed, with aides… pic.twitter.com/Qms69pMreK
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) May 26, 2026
* * *
Israeli strikes continued across southern and eastern Lebanon despite a ceasefire, as Hezbollah reported heavy casualties and cross-border clashes persisted New Arab
Huckabee tells Lebanese being bombed to thank Israel for seedless watermelons Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
US and Israel ‘actively working’ to strip Jordan of Al-Aqsa custodianship, sources say Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
Yemen war sees scramble for scant resources between displaced and locals Aljazeera
* * *
The Babylon Bee Has Obtained A Leaked Copy Of The Iran-U.S. Peace Deal Babylon Bee
Syraqistan
Afghanistan’s silent collapse The News
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia Tells Western Diplomats to Flee Kiev, Announces Campaign of Prolonged Systematic Strikes on Capital City Simpilcius
Lavrov Tells Rubio, Russia Will End the War with Ukraine and the West Larry Johnson
Kazakhstan found itself in the Naftogaz trap Vzglayd via machine translation (Micael T)
Latvia’s PM resigns in fallout over stray Ukrainian drones DW
Russia steps up economic pressure on Armenia ahead of pivotal election Intellinews
THIS IS HOW PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS ON EVERY RUSSIAN VOTER’S MIND IN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN — WHY COUNT ON TRUMP BRIBES TO FINISH THE WAR WHEN ZELENSKY BRIBES KEEP THE WAR GOING? John Helmer
Imperial Collapse Watch
After Minab, Starobilsk: The Pattern of Civilian Children Becoming Targets in Modern War Global Geopolitics
War becomes the number one political violence risk for more than 50% of companies globally Allianz
You Cannot Unsee the Loops Craig Tindale. A terrible title for a really good piece on elite incompetence and political polarization. Written about Australia but IMHO has
Trump 2.0
‘Dirty little secret’: Ted Cruz just said the quiet part out loud about Trump Accounts and Social Security privatization Yahoo! Finance Yahoo (Kevin W)
GOP Clown Car
One can hope:
Even tho AIPAC helped unseat Massie their DESPERATION helped me study & isolate the specific structural weaknesses inherent in the AIPAC intervention model. 🚨
AIPAC exposed critical inefficiency in their operational model.
it exposed they LACK LEVERAGE . They burned HUGE ‼️… pic.twitter.com/GAu0AGcbmk
— Hannibal999 (@Hannibal9972485) May 25, 2026
Supremes
A Tale of Two High-Profile Immigration Cases Steve Vladeck
Police State Watch
What right does the US Govt have to ban its citizens from visiting certain countries or dictating to them that various hotels, stores, malls, etc. are criminally banned?
And what’s the justification for investigating Hasan and Medea Benjamin but not Nick Shirley’s Cuba trip? https://t.co/zwqcfHissw
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 25, 2026
Economy
‘The world is not going to be the same’: Global turmoil rattles shipping TradeWinds
Charting the Global Economy: Factory Activity Sags on Inflation Bloomberg
Fertiliser groups cut production as Iran war squeezes sulphur supplies Financial Times
I don’t know how many times I have to post the same thing @ArthurLouvre
Venezuelan oil is crappy tar.
It’s not the right stuff.
Got it? https://t.co/XD2J7oC4Bq pic.twitter.com/CNqSmehNxz
— Art Berman (@aeberman12) May 25, 2026
Mr. Market Needs a Therapist
Why Private Debt, Not Government Spending, Drives Crises Steve Keen, YouTube (Micael T)
Strategists Warn Yields to Stay High Even If Iran War Ends Yahoo
AI
If you let AI do your writing, I will come to your house and kill you Sam Kriss
The terrifying rise of schoolboys making AI girlfriends Telegraph
Pope Leo calls to ‘disarm’ AI in major document, warns of technologic threats to humanity National Catholic Reporter.and Pope Leo’s ‘Magnifica humanitas’: AI must serve humanity not concentrate power Vatican News
Pope Leo denounces ‘culture of power’ driving rise of AI Guardian. One of quite a few MSM accounts, including on Bloomberg
How to end the Age of Slop Unherd
An Incomplete List of Successful Anti-Data Center Legislation 404 Media
The Bezzle
Rising Private Credit Defaults Are Testing Banks And Insurers Forbes
BofA warns AI stock mania is nearing historic extremes Seeking Alpha
Goldman Sachs Just Confirmed the Worst-Case Scenario Eurodollar University. On the private debt version of a bank run.
It’s not just SpaceX: Big Tech is dominating bond markets too Financial Times
I thought the same about Uber & Lyft but as it turns out there’s a near infinite supply of questionable drivers who aren’t aware that most of every dollar they earn in fares is lost in vehicular depreciation https://t.co/CJaOoriDJg
— Alex Feinberg (@Alexfeinberg) May 24, 2026
Class Warfare
Today’s must watch:
There are geniuses out there just walking around. pic.twitter.com/0ZXaJDRd5b
— Harrison H. Smith ✞ (@HarrisonHSmith) May 23, 2026
Why Achieving Middle-Class Milestones Like Kids, Marriage, and a Car Is Increasingly Out of Reach Investopedia
Big Trouble in Little Human Genetic Diffence-Worshipper Land Brad DeLong
The Revolution Cannot Be Streamed The Ministry of Pop Culture (Micael T)
The People Do Not Need Permission William Murphy
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
In 2006, emergency responders in Columbus, Ohio received a mysterious silent 911 call from the apartment of a disabled man named Gary Rosheisen.
When police arrived, they found Gary on the floor after he had fallen from his wheelchair and couldn’t get back up.
Sitting beside… pic.twitter.com/3d0PGKS1yE
— Wolf of X (@WolfofX) May 24, 2026
Chicken 🐔 helps women trying to separate two fighting cats 🐈. pic.twitter.com/TBjb6Fzlh7
— cats with powerful impression 🐾 (@catshealdeprsn) May 24, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
