The ‘Steroid Olympics’ Finally Happened And Ironically Clean Athletes Still Won ZME Science (Dr. Kevin)
How Amsterdam is reviving the fine-grained courtyard block Courtyard Urbanist (Micael T)
Thought-Terminating Jargon Bentham’s Bulldog (Micael T)
Consciousness Researchers Are Tripping Commonweal
Air passengers ‘risking lives by grabbing bags and filming in emergencies’ Guardian (resilc). Darwin award futures.
7 Ideas That Should Make You Distrust Your Own Mind Skeptic (Micael T)
Ebola
🔬Ebola update.
When you read recent CDC projections, e.g., “A high probability of 65% of the outbreak reaching 20,000 with thousands of deaths within the next 3 months” – remember, these are not current numbers.
So how did the current Ebola epidemic reach its current numbers… pic.twitter.com/pA6TJkp4c8
— StarsAndScopes (@StarsAndScopes) June 7, 2026
🚨MMWR: “Largest #Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak ever” — and the US CDC mathematical modeling shows it could grow into one of the biggest Ebola epidemics in history within just 3 months if the response falters. With only 20% of patients detected and isolated, 65% (probability) of… pic.twitter.com/OTmlXYdX5w
— Cheng-Yi Lee, PhD. (@cylee_tw) June 8, 2026
DRC’s confirmed #Ebola cases are now at 550, with 101 confirmed deaths. 19 people have survived and been released from care. 64.4% of case contacts are being followed, but that’s 3489 of 5418 contacts — just over 6 contacts being followed per case. Too few still, I fear.… pic.twitter.com/461kImf65g
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@HelenBranswell) June 9, 2026
Climate/Environment
🔥🌊 C’est complètement insensé.
La réactualisation de Juin des prévisions de l’anomalie ENSO en secteur 3.4 du modèle européen de ce matin surpasse la prévision déjà folle de mai dernier.
Un El Nino d’une ampleur inédite pourrait survenir d’ici l’automne, sans précédent… pic.twitter.com/El88WhGufK
— Météovillages (@meteovillages) June 5, 2026
Hidden meltwater found deep in Antarctic coastal waters reveals stronger climate impacts PhysOrg
Warming seas put pressure on North Sea fish populations Environment Journal
China hit by wide-ranging extreme weather events in May Dialogue Earth
Hungry elephants displaced by the climate crisis clash with farmers for food in Zambia: ‘They ate the maize the whole night’ El Pais
Panama Canal imposes new vessel restrictions amid El Niño concerns Independent. The canal is competing with local farmers for water use.
Colorado is now in a statewide drought emergency CPR
Wildfires are reversing America’s progress on ozone pollution, the main ingredient in smog The Conversation
China?
China Triples Nuclear Submarine Production Capacity to Lead the World in Output: Next Generation Ships Shift Power Balance at Sea Military Watch
Chinese troops showcase unmanned systems in joint drills with Mongolia CGTN
China’s Xi vows unwavering support for North Korea’s Kim in rare Pyongyang visit Channel News Asia
Xi and Kim pledge closer ties as North Korea meeting enters second day BBC
US adds Alibaba, BYD and other Chinese tech champions to military company blacklist South China Morning Post (guurst)
Addressing the most common criticism of my previous post, I have here plotted the extreme poverty rates of the US and China on the same scale, sourced directly from the World Bank.
The result is the same: the extreme poverty rate ($3/day PPP) is higher in the US than in China. https://t.co/G98KugxCrv pic.twitter.com/Rd2VAsfIqB
— Jostein Hauge (@haugejostein) June 8, 2026
Africa
Drone strikes in Tigray kill unspecified number amid fears of renewed conflict Ethiopia Observer
Rights group says drone strike kills 11 in central Sudan market Aljazeera
Algiers has opened a new front against Morocco—and it’s no longer in the Sahara Atalayar
South of the Border
No electricity, no gas, no sleep: Cubans on edge amid endless outages Guardian
Plans to Tap Bolivia’s Vast Mineral Riches Hit by Mass Unrest Bloomberg
European Disunion
European drivers cut back on fuel as energy price shock bites Financial Times
World Insights: EU’s renewed Balkans push reflects deeper security concerns Xinhua
German Chancellor in latest deranged speech claims that Alternative für Deutschland “stands in the tradition” of the Holocaust eugyppius Micael T: “Says the man who stated that Israel is doing the dirty work for us in Iran.”
Double standards and their consequences German Foreign Policy (Micael T)
As soon as poverty figures in Germany are released, the relativists are on hand Nachdenkseiten via machine translation (Michael T)
German fishery caught in escalating economic squeeze as marine fuel costs threaten to bankrupt fleets Bastille Post
Old Blighty
Entire submarine fleet protecting UK from nuclear attack ‘unfit for use’ Metro
UK food bills soar as climate crisis hits overseas farmers and vital imports Independent
Zelenskyy hopes Reform UK councils will allow Ukraine flags to be flown again Guardian (Kevin W)
Israel v. The Resistance
Iran war live: Israel bombs Lebanon after Trump warns Netanyahu to stop Aljazeera
37 – that’s how many times Trump has claimed to be close to Iran deal CNN
US congressman demands probe into Israel’s 1967 attack on USS Liberty Aljazeera (Kevin W)
Israel puts Palestinian doctor in solitary confinement after 17 months held without charge Guardian
Who calls the shots? Trump and Netanyahu clash over diverging goals in Middle East war Financial Times
The UAE Is Changing Rhetoric, Not Policy, Toward Iran American Conservative. resilc: “Doubling down with a loser…..”
How do Israelis in the north feel about renewed fighting with Iran? Check out the supermarket Times of Israel
New Not-So-Cold War
NATO Propagandists Again Proclaim That Ukraine Is on the Verge of Winning the War Antiwar.com (resilc)
EU authorizes ships in Mediterranean to detain tankers carrying Russian oil — Kallas TASS (guurst)
From Politico’s morning European newsletter:
SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR: Ukraine’s ambition to move rapidly along the path to EU membership is creating tension between Kyiv, Brussels and some European capitals ahead of the opening next week of a first formal negotiating cluster, according to diplomats and EU officials.
Meeting in the middle: Kyiv and Brussels have publicly hailed the likely start of formal negotiations on June 15 as a breakthrough. But Ukraine is concerned its bid could be “parked” due to political issues, including France’s presidential election. That could push enlargement off the EU agenda. Brussels, meanwhile, is worried about the pace of reforms in Kyiv.
Membership lite: Discussion papers floated by Paris and Berlin, touting “associate membership” for Kyiv and other interim solutions for candidate states, are jangling nerves. “In practice, Ukraine is being offered everything except membership itself,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov told Playbook…
Why it’s getting tense: Kyiv wants to open not one but several negotiating clusters before the end of this summer, as a signal to its politicians and war-weary voters that EU membership is a real prospect, not a pipe dream.
Different vantage: Brussels is concerned about disenchantment as a risk factor for Ukraine’s internal reforms. Indeed, progress on passing key laws required to join the EU has slowed in recent months, amid unfilled seats in the Rada, the national parliament, and concerns that some measures wouldn’t secure a majority if put to a vote.
‘They are isolated … they are alone’: Zelenskyy on Russia, Putin’s lies – and fighting back Guardian. Lead story.
Nikol Pashinyan and the Future of Armenia Multipolar Press
Reflections from Tirana, Albania 🇦🇱 pic.twitter.com/Cd50LXBuL6
— Kruja Chronicles (@FilteredZero) June 7, 2026
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Meta Furious Over Bombshell Smart Glasses Revelation Futurism. Important
Imperial Collapse Watch
Nuclear powers increasing deployment of warheads, SIPRI warns France24
The Navy Has Long Been a Way for the U.S. to Project Power. The Iran War Shows Its Limits. Barron’s. resilc: “$1 trill a year for a garbage military built for 1940s.”
The Virginia-class submarine deal exposes the real purpose of AUKUS Pearls and Irritations (Chuck L)
Trump 2.0
Spy-powers deal is latest Hill casualty of Trump’s impetuous decisionmaking Politico
Immigration
Judge blocks $100k fee for H-1B visas imposed by Trump The Hill
First Somali referee to officiate at World Cup barred from entering US RT (Kevin W)
U.S. launches largest-ever effort to denaturalize citizens accused of fraud CBS (Chuck L)
Our No Longer Free Press
The Rabbit Hole: How the search for one court record became a nationwide movement. Court Watch (Chuck L)
Chris Smalls (@Shut_downAmazon) was assaulted & detained by the IDF.
He was assaulted & detained by ICE.
He stands with Cuba and condemned “progressive” branding Democrats for failing to stand against Israel’s genocide.
To Jacobin, this is “narcissistic”.
One has to ask:…
— Danny Haiphong (@GeopoliticsDH) June 7, 2026
Economy
IMF Chief Warns World Isn’t Ready for Shocks That Are Piling Up Bloomberg
Government rolls out grocery rebate as recession swirls CBC
OPEC+ Approves Another Oil Output Hike for July OilPrice
Texas screwworm cases don’t risk food supply, Brooke Rollins says CNBC. resilc: “noooooooooooooooo problem. Not what I learned helping unload Eid sheep with screw worms as a Bahrain Peace Corps vol…. I still have PTSD from that experience.
Mr. Market Needs a Therapist
Markets face triple threat of Iran war reigniting, AI bubble popping, and Fed rates rising while epic SpaceX IPO could fuel even more chaos Fortune
Inflation threats may finally undo central bank herd mentality Telegraph
AI
The helium squeeze is becoming an AI chip supply risk Startup Fortune
It’s a hurricane warning’: Guardrails around powerful AI models may be too late Politico (Kevin W)
Meta launches $115 million data center job guarantee Axios (Kevin W)
Politicians couldn’t keep kids off social media. They’ll try again with AI. Semafor. resilc: “The whole point of AI is surveillance.”
The Bezzle
It’s Possible That SpaceX Could Collapse Spectacularly Futurism (Paul R)
xAI is looking more like a datacentre REIT than a frontier lab Martin Alderson (Paul R)
Texas Grid Flags Risks As Data Centers, Crypto Sites Fail Voltage Tests Reuters
Guillotine Watch
Convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried files formal request for Trump pardon CNBC
Class Warfare
Personal loans booming as cost of living drives Australians to borrow record amounts Guardian
https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/national/gen-z-is-more-optimistic-than-boomers-but-less-attached-to-america-poll-finds/article_c4032b9c-e15a-5229-87f8-0dde119c19f2.html Union Bulletin
Story time to prove this point. My husband is a commercial electrical contractor. He has been an electrician since he was 18 yrs old. His dad and granddad were electricians. He has a high school degree and one of the earliest #’d electrical contractor licenses in the State of… https://t.co/J8VOdVqwoZ pic.twitter.com/i7FRMWhXVq
— ColonelTowner-Watkins (@ColonelTowner) June 7, 2026
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
Playful behaviors like pawing, chasing, and teasing are common among wolves and help strengthen social bonds within the pack pic.twitter.com/BW87B3CUu4
— Nature Unedited (@NatureUnedited) May 31, 2026
A second:
2 kedinin kavgası denizde son bulmuş
Denizden çıktıkları an “biz ne yaşadık ya” diyen bakışları…))) pic.twitter.com/KonZJ0wLZJ
— 𝗔𝗬𝗕𝗘𝗡İ𝗭🇹🇷 (@npsrar) June 4, 2026
A third:
Drama queen wombat.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/zbAht4Og1X
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 31, 2026
And a different sort for the finale:
Champale Anderson, a mother of six from North St. Louis, has dedicated years to making sure children in her neighborhood never go hungry.
Every school day, she prepares about 100 lunch bags packed with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, juice, cookies, and other snacks… pic.twitter.com/lTvXESRv6R
— Wolf of X (@WolfofX) June 5, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
