This family’s cat turned chef added a dead mouse to their soup Not the Bee (Li)
I know it is in terrible taste to cheer, but:
Now leading HuffPost: pic.twitter.com/ma3oBYWm7Q
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) November 4, 2025
Dick Cheney sold the world the lies of WMDs in Iraq, and then profited off of the deaths of millions of Iraqis.
Before becoming Vice President, Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton. After the destruction of Iraq, Halliburton was awarded no-bid federal contracts for reconstruction… https://t.co/H8Ltq7eKGt pic.twitter.com/8ncq6kpcBi
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) November 4, 2025
Alarming surge in memory problems among young adults ScienceDaily (Kevin W). Predates Covid.
#COVID-19/Pandemics
The Effect of US COVID-19 Excess Mortality on Social Security Outlays NBER. Paul R: “Covid deaths help SS trust fund.”
Outbreak of polio reported in Laos Bangkok Post
Climate/Environment
Earth showing alarming symptoms of climate distress as 22 of 34 key indicators hit record highs: Report Down to Earth
Water
Iran’s Water Crisis Puts Millions in Danger Newsweek
India’s Indus Treaty Suspension Sparks Water Crisis In Pakistan Grand Pinnacle Tribune
China?
China Urges US to Avoid ‘Red Lines’ After Reaching Trade Truce Bloomberg
China Backs Domestic AI Chips with Massive Energy Subsidies to Counter US Sanctions WinBuzzer
Japan
The Japanese Thatcher Julian Macfarlane
Africa
Nigeria rejects claims of Christian genocide as Trump mulls military action Aljazeera (resilc)
Stay Out of Nigeria Daniel Larison
Mali’s Potential Fall To Terrorists Could Result In Another French-Led Intervention Andrew Korybko
South of the Border
Report: US Preparing Mexico Mission Against Cartels That Would Include Troops and Drone Strikes Antiwar (Kevin W)
Venezuela Exposes CIA ‘Casus Belli’ Plot, Arrests Suspected Operatives Orinoco Tribun (Robin K)
Paraguay Declares War on “Narcoterrorists” Paraguay Post
Mexican mayor killed during Day of the Dead celebrations Guardian (resilc)
European Disunion
Germany’s Deindustrialisation Is a Capital Coup China Economic Indicator (Robin K)
What Secrets Does the Nord Stream II Blast Still Hold? Poland’s Opaque Game NEO (Michael T)
Old Blighty
Millions Lending Money to Friends and Family to Cover Essentials BBC
Even ex-banking MDs can’t get their children finance jobs now eFinancialCareers25 (Micael T)
Israel v. the Resistance
Israel to appoint new army lawyer after Palestinian prisoner rape scandal Middle East Eye (resilc)
Israeli Settlers Filmed Torturing Lambs in a Palestinian-owned Pen in the West Bank Haaretz (resilc)
The Olive Harvest Deportations Jewish Currents (Susan C)
The myth of US peacemaking: Why Washington’s mediation in West Asia keeps crumbling The Cradle
The Arab World’s Last Militant Leader Is Elusive and Defiant Wall Street Journal
New Not-So-Cold War
The Root Causes of the War in Ukraine, Or Why Russia Insists on the Donbas Antiwar
Imperial Collapse Watch
Western Political Lies Signal The End of an Era Finn Andreen (Micael T)
The US and EU had a bold plan to counter China’s BRI in Africa’s copper belt. It fell apart in under a year. Kevin Walmsley
America’s Magical Thinking on Ukraine and North Korea American Conservative (resilc)
The World’s Highest Incarceration Rates (Including U.S. States) Visual Capitalist (resilc)
Trump 2.0
A Trace Analysis of 150 U.S. Cities Shows One of the Greatest Drops in Gun Violence — Ever The Trace (resilc)
Shutdown
Trump administration will tap emergency fund to pay partial food stamp benefits BBC. Per court order.
Tariffs/Trade
Trump says China, other countries can’t have Nvidia’s top AI chips Reuters
Supremes
“Regular Forces” and the Insurrection Act Steve Vladeck
Monday: Tariffs Incoming At SCOTUS; Thinking About Rare Earths Mark Wauck
Republican Clown Car
FULL Republican Civil War EXPLODES Over Tucker, Fuentes, Israel Breaking Points
Democrat Death Wish
Inside the Democratic identity crisis Unherd. Some great phrasemaking.
Working-class voters think Dems are ‘woke’ and ‘weak,’ new research finds Politico. Paul R: “It took a big research study to find that out, lol.”
A year after Trump won, why won’t Democrats change their playbook? Norman Solomon, Guardian (resilc)
How the Democrats Can Play Offense Washington Monthly. Um, they are pretty good at being offensive.
Mamdani
When Zohran Mamdani campaigned in Arabic, He was Speaking an old American Language Juan Cole (Randy K)
“Mamdani Takes in the Knicks from the Rafters, After Cuomo Sat Courtside” https://t.co/yLhhDpBPNp https://t.co/D0LSi5GS6s
— Morris Katz (@katz_morris) November 3, 2025
Four Early Voting Takeaways in NYC, By The Numbers THE CITY
Trump threatens to restrict federal funding if Mamdani wins New York City mayoral race Anadolu Agency
Obama calls Mamdani and offers to be ‘sounding board’ if he wins mayoral race Guardian. resilc: “Obomba is a bigger con than Ttrump……..at least Trump is an open book asshole.”
Our No Longer Free Press
Teen Vogue Ridiculed for Dissolving Politics Team Just One Day Before ‘Major Election’: ‘A Knife in the Back’ The Wrap (Harvey L). Teen Vogue had a labor column. We often linked to its stories.
Mr. Market is Moody
Economy
⚠️The MAJORITY of Americans now live in areas already in RECESSION:
~88% of the US population lives in states that are going through an economic downturn, according to Rosenberg Research analysis of the Fed Beige Book.
This has NEVER happened outside of technical recessions. pic.twitter.com/fNRIEVRVS4
— Global Markets Investor (@GlobalMktObserv) November 2, 2025
Bessent Says Some ‘Sectors’ Of Economy Are In Recession Forbes
AI
Why AI scientists fail to impress human experts at one-of-a-kind online conference South China Morning Post
The Bezzle
Catalog of Dark Patterns Hall of Shame (resilc)
Private capital zombie firms will pile up in next decade, says EQT chief Financial Times
Guillotine Watch
The first castle to have been built in the UK for nearly 100 years.
Whilst there is still a lot of work to do, Piers and Emma’s fortification promises to be absolutely monumental. #GrandDesigns pic.twitter.com/oEoI3REAAd
— granddesigns (@granddesigns) October 30, 2025
Class Warfare
The Ghost in the Machine Ryan Perkins (Robin K). Today’s must read.
A CRISIS: ‘Deaths of Despair’ are Skyrocketing
-Deaths of Despair are now *triple* the rate during the Great Depression
-Deaths of Despair have increased 2.7x since 2000
-Drug overdose deaths are over 5x the rate in 2000
-Alcohol deaths are 4.6x higher than the Great Depression pic.twitter.com/oF3qVjCTgL— Robert (infra 🏛️⌛️) (@infraa_) November 1, 2025
She’s 93 and still job searching. Why older Americans work, even if they’re sick. Business Insider (resic)
Is This Rock Bottom? Corbin Trent and America’s Undoing. resilc cites:
I keep waiting for someone in power or seeking it to say the quiet part out loud: the amount of work required to fix this country is far bigger than “beating Trump” or “restoring norms” or whatever line gets handed to Democratic donors and MSNBC panels. I keep waiting for someone to look the public in the eye and say: we’re not going to vote our way back to the America we think we used to have, because the America we think we used to have never actually existed for most people.
Why Is Healthcare Expensive? Dean Baker
Inmates will pay up to 83% more for phone calls, thanks to new FCC rule Popular Information
‘Soul-Crushing’: Students Slam Harvard’s Grade Inflation Report Harvard Crimson. ZOMG, the entitlement, it burns.
BCC Sees Dramatic Increase in Enrollment, Thanks to Free Tuition Programs iBershires (resilc)
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus:
«Never forget the power of a small, sincere gesture»
Penguins have a courtship ritual in which the male finds a carefully selected stone and presents it to the female. This male penguin did it with his zookeeper.pic.twitter.com/y31ouzZX8i
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) November 3, 2025
A second bonus:
they wanted the cat to be in the picture so bad 🥺 pic.twitter.com/TuD8z2hnNd
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) November 2, 2025
And a third:
One cat is adorable. Two cats are just funny 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CFotJOmviV
— Wholesome Side of 𝕏 (@itsme_urstruly) November 2, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
