Should BRICS+ Lead the Global South?
BRICS seems destined never to live up to hopes for it. Is strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement a better strategy?
Read more...Author Archives: Yves Smith
Links 7/15/2026
Iran War: Trump TACOs on Strait of Hormuz Fee as Blockade Starts but Again Threatens to Attack Iran Energy and Critical Infrastructure as Iran Warns of Closure of Bab el-Mandeb, Destruction of Gulf State Energy Production
Today’s Iran war news: Trump’s continued ferocity is way out of line compared to what the US can achieve. So what might transpire?
Read more...Hochul Temporarily Bans New Data Centers in NY Amid Scrutiny of Climate Impacts
Mirabile dictu! New York intends to make data centers hew to more stringent pollution, water use and energy cost/impact rules.
Read more...Knee Pain? Ragged Cartilage? Research Suggests Surgery’s Not the Best Answer
Some news you can use: on a dodgy knee procedure that while deservedly falling in popularity, is still being practiced.
Read more...Links 7/14/2026
Iran War: Trump Lashes Himself to Strait of Hormuz Mast With Renewed Blockade, Intensified Attacks on Iran; Oil Crunch Worsens as Iran Halt Fujairah Shipments, Houthis Threaten to Close Bab el-Mandeb
Today’s Iran war news: Trump is indeed making himself Herbert Hoover 2.0 with his latest escalation.
Read more...On the US-EU Productivity Debate: James Galbraith Responds to Paul Krugman
An exchange about American versus European productivity is really about the US need to substantiate its superior status.
Read more...Trapped at Home: Climate Stress Is More Likely to Immobilize the Poor Than to Move Them
A new study argues that climate change will not produce mass migration of the poor, using debatable assumptions.
Read more...Iran War: What Happens When the US Hits the Limits of Escalation Options?
Today’s Iran war news: The current escalatory trajectory is set to lead only to bad outcomes, yet complacency seems widespread.
Read more...Iran War: Iran Rejects Trump 24 Hour Ultimatum; US Launches Intense Attacks With Kuwait and Bahrain; Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz, Starts Counter-Strikes; Rumors of Mining of Oman Channel
Today’s Iran war news: It looks as if a full-bore war, now over control of the Strait of Hormuz, is on.
Read more...Links 7/11/2026
The Graham Platner Affair
A post mortem of the successful effort to end Graham Platner’s Senate bid and any future in politics.
Read more...How Stories Change the Human Brain, Empathy, Memory, and Behavior
Yves here. Stories are integral to decision-making. Prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys know well that juries reach their verdicts not on weighing evidence but on constructing the story that seems to them to fit the evidence best and then see what that means in terms of a ruling. It’s thus disconcerting to see how tech […]
Read more...Cloudflare Threatens to Cut Google Off From Their Publishers in Searches Due to AI Scraping
AI is destroying what is left of search, as Cloudflare plus big publishers implement the nuclear option of cutting off Google indexing.
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