Who’d have thunk it? You can believe in science and rationality and also believe in ghosts.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
How Non-State Alliances Are Reshaping the Global Order
Non-state actors, aka rebels, are purportedly getting more external support. What are the roots of this shift?
Saudi National Arrested for Spying at OpenAI
Abdulrahman Alfozan, an OpenAI employee and a citizen of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been arrested for attempting to bug a meeting room.
West Asia War: Riyadh Ravaged, Battles in Yemen, Iranian Mines Sink Ship
Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah continued to trade bombs and ballistic missiles. Battles continue in Yemen. More ships hit in the Strait.
Short Iran War + Ansar Allah v. Saudis Update
Today’s Iran war news: IIran and Ansar Allah have dug into “ever be escalating” mode as the US may be manning up too.
Coffee Break: CoreWeave the Canary in the AI Credit Coal Mine?
CoreWeave had a brutal day on the stock and credit markets yesterday, and may indicate troubles coming for the broader AI industry.
Record Tanker Rates Leave Heavy Crude Stranded in the Americas
Nosebleed high tanker rates, thanks to Iran attacks on vessels, are producing oil supply chain breakage on the other side of the planet.
Aramco Burns, Oil Execs Avoid Saudi Confab, MbS in the Bunker
Ansar Allah continues to score as they trade tit-for-tat strikes with the Saudis. Several top American and European executives attended Riyadh’s WPC Energy Congress remotely. Reports say Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is shuttling “between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers and is guarded by a handpicked security team.” Ground combat continues in Yemen.
‘Extending Russia’: Successes, Failures, and What Comes Next?
US ‘allies’ to continue to pay the price as hopes are pinned on a post-Putin crisis in Moscow.
Michael Hudson on the Swedish Central Bank’s Wannabe Nobel Prize 2026
Michael Hudson gives a terse takedown on how the fake economics Nobel prize shores up destructive elite-serving orthodoxies.
Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Phantom Limb of Decisive Warfare: Reaching for Catastrophic Victory
The nuclear revolution transformed the conditions of great-power warfare, yet military institutions continue to pursue decisive conventional victory. The phantom limb of traditional warfare survives through cultural admiration for martial courage and institutional commitment to military superiority, even as the pursuit of victory risks triggering nuclear catastrophe.
Financial Sanctions and the Global Payments Network
Complexity of the payments system means that currencies like the yuan are not benefitting from sanctions as much as widely believed.
Why Fall Yard Care Could Start With Doing Less – But Not Nothing
How to justify to yourself and your neighbors not getting rid of most of the leaves in your yard: because soil health.
