Dog parents to spend nearly $1B on Halloween costumes this year — and one costume leads the pack New York Post
Everything rhymes with porcelain Works In Progress
Anna North on the Genre You Didn’t Know You Needed: Bogcore Lit Hub
Climate/Environment
Fires Arrive in the Amazon Rainforest NASA
Indonesia fights fire with dry ice as toxic haze spreads across region The Guardian
Fast-moving brush fire burns hundreds of acres at Camp Pendleton, closes part of Interstate 5 Times of San Diego
Malibu fire spreads to 100 acres and triggers evacuations Santa Monica Daily press
California EV owners, beware: El Niño flooding brings risk of serious battery fires Los Angeles Times
Eastern Pacific tropical moisture brings torrential rainfall to the central US Balanced Weather
Pandemics
Kenya Confirms Second Ebola Case Kenya Times
Japan
Japan set to skip Trump’s 3.5% defense pledge in policy update Asahi Shimbun
China?
Pork insecurity: China protein supply ‘exposed’ amid reliance on feed imports, study says South China Morning Post
“I Will Complain to the EU!” ChinaTalk
Southeast Asia
Protests spread in Indonesia as anger mounts over forest fires and haze Straits Times
Bali fuel stocks secure despite gas station lineups, says governor Antara
India
US-India relations: possible futures Paul Staniland
Modi’s bigger challenge: What people away from protest sites are saying about his government Scroll
Syraqistan
What Will Israel Be After Gaza? Hidden Cities
Israel blocks construction of Trump peace board military base in Gaza New Arab
***
BREAKING: Iran launches anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, and Shahed-136 drones toward the port anchorages of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Jebel Ali in the UAE and adjacent areas of the Strait of Hormuz, per multiple initial reports.
Heavy flight disruptions currently over Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah.
It comes as Iran placed its armed forces on the highest alert for 72 hours a short while ago.
— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) October 16, 2026
Gulf states have downplayed damage caused by Iranian strikes: Report Middle East Eye
Pentagon delays Iran’s Minab school attack report until after midterm Al Mayadeen
Ansar Allah Strikes Headquarters of Saudi-Backed Yemeni Government in Aden Antiwar
Hijab restrictions in Azerbaijan reignite Iranian debate on coercion and choice Amwaj
Africa
Old Blighty
The Unjust State Craig Murray
Worried about Russian meddling in UK politics? Wait till you see what Israel is up to Jonathan Cook
O Canada
Declassified Report Shows How CIA Resettled Nazis In Canada The Maple. An ongoing US specialty: the rat line.
Inside Bill C-22, Canada’s Patriot Act. The Dissident
European Disunion
Riots of Refusal As Wars of Maneuver Un-Diplomatic
UPDATE: The EU Council sent me a letter with its decision NOT to lift the sanctions on me. That means at least another year under sanctions.
The reasons they give should be a warning to everyone about where European authoritarianism is going. https://t.co/hrNyvheHqk
— Hüseyin Dogru (@hussedogru) October 15, 2026
Norway may open €2 trillion wealth fund to nuclear weapons makers Euronews
Europe May Miss Its 2026 Deadline To Phase Out Russian LNG Forbes
EU leaders urge urgent action on energy prices, single market reforms Anadolu Agency
EU leaders defend Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries DPA International
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine strikes Ryazan refinery as Zelenskiy ends three-day pause Intellinews
Putin Might Accept Trump’s Reported Peace Plan Andrew Korybko
US Trying to Butter Up Russia Mark Sleboda
Kremlin says Russia is restarting diesel exports after deal with Trump Ukrainska Pravda
Seven Sailors Missing as Drones Strike Tankers Near Romania Reuters
Britain to send Ukraine more Storm Shadows The Telegraph
US Army, NATO test how allies would coordinate a defense of Europe Stars and Stripes
Russia miscalculated by sidelining Europe in US talks, Kallas tells Euronews Euronews
South of the Border
U.S. Is Sending Hundreds of Troops to Latin America New York Times
Venezuela: 5,418 Communes to Vote on 37,205 Projects in National Popular Consultation Orinoco Tribune. When do we get to vote on the data centers?
Trump 2.0
How Pete Hegseth’s Plan for a Reality-TV Execution Imploded The Atlantic
Jared Kushner’s powerful, unvetted role in Trump admin foreign policy CREW
Omar Raid
What’s at Stake in the Omar Case Unpopular Front
Democrats Suck
How Can Dems Persuade Wary Voters They Will Really End the Iran War? Common Dreams
The Uniparty
Imperial Collapse Watch
Ousted general warned of years-long missile defense shortage before Iran war CBS News
Economy
The Diesel Crunch Will Persist Well into 2027 OilPrice
Car payments just hit a record $787 a month—and 1 in 4 new-car buyers is now signing a 7-year loan Fortune
A Deeper Dive into Real Wage Trends, Interest Rates, and What It All Means for Democracy Jared Bernstein
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Exposing AdFection Citizen Lab
How ChatGPT Targets Ads To You Based On Your Prompts, Phone Number, and Email 404 Media
Apple has introduced HomeView
https://t.co/0E6uUKj7Q5 https://t.co/vYzZv6gQqc
— Andreas Storm (@avstorm) October 13, 2026
Police State Watch
ICE Is Fast-Tracking a Nationwide Domestic Spy Program Across Dozens of Cities Truthout
ICE says it will not turn on body cameras automatically when weapons drawn despite watchdog’s recommendation The Independent
Immigration
US officials considering ad campaign to urge South African Afrikaners to emigrate The Guardian
Sports Desk
Hahaha! What an awesome country! https://t.co/IYJmu5ZP0y
— Darkwoke Duck (@DylanTweetin) October 15, 2026
Our Famously Free Press
Google-CNN Deal to Integrate Generative AI Into News Platforms TeleSur
AI
CoreWeave Founders Shield Fortunes With $3.3 Billion Stock Sales Bloomberg
%$&*!!! whoa.
This reads that Meta is looking to grant itself the rights to scrape websites across the open web – and train Meta’s AI – once a company uses Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or other Meta services after October 30, 2026. So every biz.
Read that again. Outrageous. 1/5 https://t.co/TTtnR4uexs
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) October 16, 2026
The Linguistic Foundations of “Agents on the Loose” Wawick Powell
The Bezzle
Tesla’s New Roadster Can Somehow Do Corkscrews in the Air (Without Exploding—Yet) Gizmodo
Starlink’s Entry Into Wireless Is Being Wildly Overhyped Tech Dirt
Class Warfare
Our well being is tightly tethered to our neighbors. Working Class Stories
What Evangelicals Can Teach Us About Organizing Labor Politics
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
