2026-01-22

etc

• Winter Storm to Target over 180M from Texas to New England

  • 200m Americans warned to brace for coldest winter storm EVER as ‘downright concerned’ forecasters predict -50f weather and 18inches of snow

Horseshit

• Want to Keep Your Job? Buy Yourself a Blazer

• Hume is better at explaining modern capitalism than Marx

• The new breed of 'zero bills' homes where you pay nothing for your energy

• NYC Bans Hidden Hotel Fees Ahead of World Cup Tourist Influx

• Europe Could Kick U.S. Where It Hurts: The World Cup

• Toronto man fakes pilot badge to score hundreds of free flights

Epstein

• Maxwell to Face House Grilling — Virtual Deposition Set for February 9

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Anthropic's CEO stuns Davos with Nvidia criticism

• Carney says old world order 'is not coming back'

• Europe has a lot to learn from Mark Carney

• Read Mark Carney's full speech on middle powers navigating a rupture

• What it was like inside the room with Donald Trump at Davos

Musk

• Leave X – Protect Democracy

• Elon Musk floats idea of buying Ryanair after calling CEO 'an idiot'

• Tesla crash in Germany: Even far right AfD voters no longer want Musk's cars

• Lemonade Unveils Autonomous Car Insurance, Slashing Rates for Tesla FSD by 50%

• Tesla cuts 1,700 jobs at Gigafactory Berlin despite denying it

• Elon Musk's xAI Colossus 2 is nowhere near 1 gigawatt capacity

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Chinese EVs Blow Past Tesla and Tariffs En Route to Global Reign

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• How the NHS became the battleground in the trans debate facing workplaces

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Is 'open science' delivering benefits? Major study finds proof is sparse

• The Confabulations of Oliver Sacks

• A man making millions from exposing scientific scandals

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Mozilla makes over 680M dollars in revenue in 2024

• Snap reaches settlement in social media addiction lawsuit

• RAM shortage chaos expands to GPUs, high-capacity SSDs, and even hard drives

  • Memory supply shortfall will cause chip shortage to spread to other segments

• Director Gore Verbinski: Unreal Engine is the greatest slip backwards for movie

• App Store and Apple TV Experiencing Outage

• Warranty Void Stickers Are Illegal in the US

• Apple Beats California Privacy Law Claims in Data Tracking Suit

• BBC announces landmark deal to make bespoke content for YouTube

• Sony to Cede Control of Bravia TVs to China's Tcl

• Text is king

  stories about the end of reading tend to leave out some inconvenient data points. For example, book sales were higher in 2025 than they were in 2019, and only a bit below their high point in the pandemic. Independent bookstores are booming, not busting; 422 new indie shops opened last year alone. Even Barnes and Noble is cool again. The actual data on reading isn’t as apocalyptic as the headlines imply. Gallup surveys suggest that some mega-readers (11+ books per year) have become moderate readers (1-5 books per year), but they don’t find any other major trends over the past three decades.

• Spotify won court order against Anna's Archive, taking down .org domain

• Steam Machine: Not So Hot If Priced at 1000 USD

TechSuck / Geek Bait

• (2005) Google Hardware Circa 1999

  • At that time I had a 486-133 and a non-MMX Pentium to run freedom.org. In 2008 when that venture died; that same Pentium was still in service.

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Microsoft CEO warns that we must 'do something useful' with AI

• When I Talk to AI About My Feelings, I Don't Want a Therapy Ad

• The UK government is backing AI that can run its own lab experiments

• Deutsche Bank says the 'honeymoon is over' for AI

• Google Health AI Overviews Cite YouTube More Than Any Hospital Site

• AI startup Humans& raises $480M at $4.5B valuation in seed round

• "AI has taught us that people are excited to replace human beings"

• Psychiatrists Hope Chat Logs Can Reveal the Secrets of AI Psychosis

• The Messy Human Drama That Dealt a Blow to One of AI's Hottest Startups

• How AI Destroys Institutions

• Meta's new AI team delivered first key models internally this month

• CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story

• The Microsoft-OpenAI Files: Internal documents reveal AI's defining alliance

• Rollout of AI may need to be slowed to 'save society', says boss of JP Morgan

• Apple to Revamp Siri as a Built-In iPhone, Mac Chatbot to Fend Off OpenAI

• Palantir CEO says AI to make large-scale immigration obsolete

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Nvidia's Huang Plans to Visit China as He Works to Reopen Market

• Amazon Joins the Big-Box League with Its Largest-Ever Store

• Why neither Asia nor the US has produced a rival to ASML

• Why your power bill is spiking faster than a nearby data center's

  • Governors confront electricity's rising costs as data centers expand

• New Yorkers Have Failed to Spend $55M in Gift Cards

• Swedish pension fund Alecta cuts US Treasury holdings citing US politics

  • Swedish Alecta has sold off an estimated $8B of US Treasury Bonds

• Uber Faces Growing Pressure over Sexual Assault Record

• LG Energy Solution to Sell Ohio Battery Facility to Honda for $2.85B

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• California sees 150k sign-ups for new data broker deletion request tool

• Internet voting is insecure and should not be used in public elections

• From Rock to Tech, Talent Flees Taxes

• The gold plating of American water

  the EPA is setting water mandates that far exceed what even the most progressive cities think is necessary. These mandates drive up the cost of water, stymie housing, and burden city budgets. Americans open a tap and get water much like their parents and grandparents did, but the price of water and sewer for households has more than doubled since the early 1980s, adjusted for inflation. American households in large cities now spend about $1,300 a year on water and sewer charges, even though per-capita use has actually decreased.

• Congress Imposes Public Utility Rules on UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna

  the House and Senate Appropriations Committees announced they negotiated legislative text in this space. The legislative texxt is based on the work of Senators Ron Wyden and Mike Crapo, and has been added to “must-pass” bills to keep the government open, so barring something extremely unusual, it’ll be signed into law. So what does the legislation actually do? Well, the simple answer is that it treats pharmacy benefit managers like public utilities. As I noted before, PBMs run payment networks that connect insurers, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and employers. Congress is now saying they have to start treating those networks like public highways.

Trump

• Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers

  • Executive order barring Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes

• Trump Says 'You'll Find Out' How Far He'll Go to Get Greenland

• Full Text: Charter of Trump's Board of Peace

• Trump says reached Greenland deal framework with NATO, backs off Europe tariffs

• "If You Say No, We Will Remember" Trump Demands "Immediate Negotiations" But Rules Out Greenland Invasion | ZeroHedge

Democrats

• Justice Jackson defending the racist Black Codes

  Of all the bonkers things of the past few years, the very bonkersiest may well be KBJ relying on the Black Codes as grounds for supporting Hawaii's incredibly restrictive gun laws. For background, the "Black Laws" were racist laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War that served to segregate former slaves and reduce them to something less than a free citizen, including gross restrictions on their right to keep and bear arms.

• How Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists Sought Ties With Chinese Officials

  The minutes of the DSA meetings show participants discussing contacts with officials from China’s ruling party in the name of "anti-imperialism," with some members saying the organization should avoid topics that are sensitive for Beijing, such as China's threats to invade Taiwan, its security crackdown in Hong Kong and abuses of the Uyghur Muslim minority. They also discuss visits to China. Chinese officials did not take part in the meetings themselves but met with members in China and encouraged the DSA to set up exchanges, according to the minutes.

• the Clintons’ lawyers made an untenable offer

  Facing contempt of Congress, the Clintons’ lawyers made an untenable offer: that I travel to New York for a conversation with President Clinton only. No official transcript would be recorded and other Members of Congress would be barred from participating. I have rejected the Clintons’ ridiculous offer.

  The Clintons’ latest demands make clear they believe their last name entitles them to special treatment. The House Oversight Committee’s bipartisan subpoenas require the Clintons to appear for depositions that are under oath and transcribed. Former President Clinton has a documented history of parsing language to evade questions, responded falsely under oath, and was impeached and suspended from the practice of law as a result.

  Contempt proceedings begin tomorrow.

  • I'm sure they fear the same consequences that attended Hunter Biden's blatant contempt of Congress. Only Republicans go to jail for that.

• Newsom administration alleges State Department pressure in Davos cancellation - POLITICO

  In a private exchange of messages obtained by POLITICO, a Newsom administration official accused the USA House of bowing to political pressure from the State Department — an accusation the organizer denied, while emphasizing the governor was still welcome in the venue — in a microcosm of the larger geopolitical tensions on display. In the exchange, an event organizer denied to a Newsom official that the organization had “un-invited” Newsom or acted under any political imperative. USA House did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.

Left Angst

• MAGA Delusions of Economic Leverage

• DOGE staffers at Social Security agency may have violated Hatch Act, DOJ says

  • Trump administration concedes DOGE team may have misused Social Security data

  • DOGE employees may have improperly accessed social security data, DOJ says

  • DOGE Employees Shared Social Security Data

  • DOGE improperly shared sensitive social security data, DOJ court filing reveals

  • Trump administration admits DOGE accessed personal Social Security data

• AWFLs and Boomers Protest ICE by Buying Salt at Target and Then Immediately Returning It

• NASA to end support for planetary science groups

  • NASA ends financial support for planetary science groups

• Can King Donald Deliver?

  Trump is already ignoring Congress on the Epstein files, which are the almost certain reason for this eruption of world tension (to understate its significance, probably grossly). So, would he ignore his own legislators if they moved against him on Greenland, Canada, and wherever else is next on his list? Most likely, the answer is yes. That is what fascists do, after all.

• Can Everyone Please Stop Being Stupid About Who Pays Tariffs?

  If you ever want to kill an economist without facing legal liability, just play them a clip of Trump talking about the economy, and he will keel over dead, blood pouring out of all his orifices. It is notable that there are only two economists in the world who support the Trump tariffs, and both are Peter Navarro. But it isn’t just tariff supporters. Watch any interview with tariff opponents and they will ask “but aren’t the tariffs paid by Americans?” This is seen as some kind of devastating gotcha—as if it matters whether the tariffs are paid by the producers or consumers. This makes the angels cry. I mean, first of all, the main concern about tariffs isn’t that they impose taxes on Americans. That’s true of all taxes the government imposes. It’s that they’re specifically distortionary because, by targeting specific transactions, they lead to parties not engaging in mutually beneficial purchasing decisions. The reason to oppose tariffs isn’t “Americans pay the taxes,” it’s “they’re wildly distortionary.”

• We ran high-level US civil war simulations. Minnesota is how they start

• Becca and Renee Good Were Not Married. So Why Does Everyone Keep Lying About It?

  An attorney representing Renee Good’s estate acknowledged in an interview with the Washington Post that Becca Good was not her wife. Antonio Romanucci, the Chicago-based attorney who also represented the family of George Floyd and succeeded in winning a $27 million settlement for the Floyd family, said Renee’s “partner, parents and four siblings want ‘to honor her life with progress toward a kinder and more civil America.” Romanucci further confirmed the pair “were not married.” On Friday, just a few days after publishing the story about Thompson, the Times had to admit in a separate story that Becca and Renee “were not legally married.” But a review of Times articles published since the shooting does not show that the paper has corrected any previous articles describing Becca Good as the “wife” or “widow” of Renee Good. Ditto for the Washington Post. Despite being the first corporate media outlet to disclose the Goods’ nonexistent marriage.

  Becca Good is tied to an anti-ICE activist group, which had held a remote training seminar just a few days before the confrontation. Romanucci also refuses to acknowledge their involvement in anti-ICE activism. In the Times interview, Romanucci “declined to say whether the couple had been alerted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might be working on the block where they encountered them” and also refused to say “whether Renee Good had joined a neighborhood group chat that tracked agents, attended any training sessions about watching ICE, or observed immigration agents before that morning of the shooting.”

• 71 Percent of Americans Say US Is 'Out of Control' Under Trump

• Trump Mixes Up Iceland and Greenland in Incoherent Davos Speech

• One Year of Trump. The Time to Act Is Now, While We Still Can. - The New York Times

  As for the next presidential election, Trump has made his intentions clear: He is not planning to leave his throne. He may look for a pretext to cancel the vote. (When President Volodymyr Zelensky told him that Ukraine can’t have an election during the war, Trump visibly lit up: “So you mean if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections? Oh, that’s good.”) He may find a way to invalidate the vote after the election — he has been laying the groundwork for such a move since his first term. Even if he doesn’t, it is foolish to think that this iteration of our national nightmare will end in three years. One term for regimes that maintain the trappings of democracy, such as legislatures, courts and elections, but use them primarily as decoration is “electoral authoritarianism.” This is what we are becoming.

• Judge blocks government from searching data seized from Washington Post reporter

• Trump administration claims offshore wind poses a threat. But it won't say how.

• Immigration officers assert power to enter homes without a warrant

  • ICE says officers can forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Trump admin sought redactions on China war game report warning

• Air Force One forced to turn around shortly after Trump takes off for Davos.

  • Air Force One Returns to Joint Base Andrews After 'Minor Electrical Issue'

World

• Big Tech is racing to own Africa’s internet

• Australia Passes New Hate Speech Law, Raising Free Speech Fears

• Parliament tells Dutch government to keep DigiD data out of American hands

• ECB's Panetta sees digital commercial bank money in future

• Workers flee Cambodia scam centres, officials say

• EU chief says EU should abandon caution after Bessent calls Denmark 'irrelevant'

• EU Parliament freezes US trade deal ratification

  • European lawmakers suspend U.S. trade deal

• EU plans cybersecurity overhaul to block foreign high-risk suppliers

• UK government considers social media ban for children

• Commuter train in Spain hits collapsed wall killing driver and injuring 37

  • Spain's rail network under scrutiny after second deadly crash in three days

• Crans-Montana fire bar had safety issues for years

  In January 2018, the safety officer of the municipality of Crans-Montana asked the manager Jacques Moretti to limit the number of visitors to his restaurant to 100 people per floor. The officer also gave him three months to indicate where the fire extinguishers were located. Evacuation plans and appropriate staff training were also lacking at the time. During the inspection in May 2019, all of these demands were made again by the safety officer, as the then managing director had not met the expectations of the municipal administration. In 2019, he was given another three months to comply with the regulations. Since then, the bar has not been inspected again.

• The EU Commission Is Gutting Net Neutrality

• Europe must act now: the post-NATO world has begun

• Brussels plans to force governments to block Huawei from 5G

• Japan restarts largest nuclear plant

• Citigroup to boost Japan investment banking team on deal boom

• HAM Radio Operators in Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty

  The Belarusian government is threatening three HAM radio operators with the death penalty, detained at least seven people, and has accused them of “intercepting state secrets,” according to Belarusian state media, independent media outside of Belarus, and the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna. The arrests are an extreme attack on what is most often a wholesome hobby that has a history of being vilified by authoritarian governments in part because the technology is quite censorship resistant.

• India-Europe 'mother of all deals' within reach as EU hints at breakthrough

• Lords defy Government with crushing vote to ban social media for under-16s

Greenland

• For Russia, Greenland offers an 'ideal solution' to its Ukraine problem

• Bessent Cautions Allies over Military Missions in Greenland

• Bessent Shrugs Off 'Irrelevant' Danish Treasuries Sales

  • Scott Bessent calls Denmark "irrelevant", is not concerned by Treasury sell-off

• Could US Congress Stop Trump from Taking over Greenland?

• The Oligarchs Pushing for Conquest in Greenland

• Trump's Man in Greenland

Venezuela

• US forces seize seventh Venezuelan oil tanker, intensify crackdown on illegal shipments.

Iran / Houthi

• China Begins Conducting Massive Military Movements Inside Iran.

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Ukraine offers allies combat data to train AI

China

• The applause for China at Davos is sincere

• China steers the Gulf's driverless future as U.S. rivals stay home

• You're Living in the Chinese Century

Health / Medicine

• Shingles vaccine may help keep older people biologically younger

• North Carolina erased medical debt for 2.5M people

• Positive thinking can boost the power of vaccines

• Gut bacteria rapidly adapt to digest starches in ultra-processed foods

• Manipulating blood CO₂ levels may help clear toxic proteins from the brain

  • As the "ripple breathing" meditation practitioners have known for some time

• they'd rather sell pills: Why Eating Less Isn't Helping You Lose Weight Anymore, According to Experts

• Heart Disease and Stroke Behind Quarter of All Deaths in U.S.

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• Doctors raise alarm over declining vaccine rates in America's most vulnerable

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• In Bangladesh, volunteers are battling climate-fueled disease at its source

• Cameras reveal what hedgehogs get up to after dark

• Your Brain Might Not Be Full of Microplastics After All

• Something huge and brown is crossing the Atlantic from Africa to America, and satellites can no longer ignore it

• A cooler climate solution: Air-conditioning without the compressor

• Good climate news: thawing permafrost turns out to be a methane sink

• Zillow Removed Climate Risk Scores Under Pressure from Real Estate Agents

• Oxford PV targets 20-year lifetime for perovskite-silicon tandem modules by 2028

• Clean Energy in Data Centers Could Avoid Trillions in Climate and Health Costs

• North Sea project promises to return carbon to where it came from

• Ant smuggling case highlights legal inconsistencies

  insect trafficking is a growing but overlooked aspect of global environmental crime that is not adequately countered by legal systems—be that through insufficient laws or weak enforcement.

• The world entered a new era of 'water bankruptcy' with irreversible consequences

• They're scared of us now: how co-investment in a tropical forest saw off loggers

• Half of CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study shows

• Tiny Mars Has a Big Impact on Our Climate