Introduction: The question of whether to demolish unattractive modern buildings has sparked a debate about aesthetics and urban beauty. While some argue for demolishing these structures to restore the charm of cities, others believe that merely replacing them does not guarantee an improvement. Recent observations from cities like New York bring this issue into sharp focus.
Should We Start Demolishing Ugly Modern Buildings to Restore Beautiful Cities? Architecture and Tradition (Micael T). The consideration here is that any replacements ought to be either beautiful or significantly better than the existing structures. I recently visited New York City, where JP Morgan undertook a renovation of its building on Park, just above Grand Central Terminal. To my surprise, it ended up looking even more unappealing and authoritarian than before.
Interestingly, some buildings once regarded as eyesores have cultivated unexpected admiration over time, such as the brutalist Barbican complex in London. Our colleague Richard Smith lived there for several years and noted that the design of the units is exceptionally efficient, offering a sense of spaciousness that belies their actual size.
Climate/Environment
Sri Lanka: Death of iconic elephant raises habitat concerns DW
Bangladesh’s climate migrants are arriving in cities unprepared to protect them Mongabay
Chemicals from phones and TVs found in Arctic and Antarctic soil Earth
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN CHINA
37 DEGREES OVER 1000m asl
Thousands of records have fallen every day of this month and October records keep falling even at month end like today:
33.3C Shuangjiang
32.9C MenglianNovember will break DOZENS OF THOUSANDS of records all over Asia.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) October 26, 2026
Indonesia records over 333,000 acute respiratory infection cases as fires rage in several regions Anadolu Agency
French roads suffer from cracks following summer droughts Connexion France
California’s oceans have become shockingly warm. And strange things are happening SFChronicle
Severe flooding in the US west triggers rooftop rescues and evacuation orders Guardian
Loading the DICE Against Life Steve Keen
China?
Chinese markets lose trillions as race for AI supremacy with the US takes its toll Guardian
Why China’s stimulus keeps missing the mark Reuters
China’s consumer slump demands a Japan-style stimulus response CNBC
Chip Wars Update: China blows up ASML’s supply chain for EUV machines Kevin Walmsley
This is how they dispose of illegal fireworks in China
Man, I’d love that job
Writer: Ian
https://t.co/NYU1ZYRb7K
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 26, 2026
Japan
Eye on China: Japan reopens taboo debate over nuclear-powered submarines South China Morning Post
Koreas
North Korea-South Korea tensions high as letters lodged with UN, howitzer spotted. Channel News Asia
South Asia
India’s largest share sale could end cheap mobile internet for millions BBC
India tightens its grip on Pakistan’s lifeline Noon Report
Southeast Asia
Indonesia cuts gas exports to Singapore amid row over haze Independent
Africa
Africa’s Debt Crisis Deepens as AFRODAD Demands Overhaul of Global Financial System Africa Brief
War-ravaged Sudan on brink as El Nino fans new flames of hunger Daily Sabah
How Sudan’s RSF destroyed the survivors of its el-Fasher massacre Middle East Eye
Algeria approves army deployment to Niger in major shift in ties Middle East Online
South of the Border
Lula’s Historic Victory in Brazil — and What It Means Glenn Greenwald
Lula’s ‘Miracle’ Victory in Brazil ConsortiumNews
The Oligarchs Lose a Big One Paul Krugman
Lula faces a fiscal reckoning after Brazil’s market rout Financial Times. Capitalist enforcers clear their throat. Lead story. No archived version yet.
* * * Western Media Accept Trump’s Plundering of Venezuelan Oil as Business as Usual Venezuelanalysis (Robin K)
Rubio warns Venezuela’s Machado: Street protests won’t get you democracy Axios
* * * Rubio calls on Cubans to partner with CIA ‘to create positive change’ Aljazeera (resilc)
European Union
European governments need to ‘prepare systematically’ for scorching summers ahead Sustainability Online
How the next eurozone crisis happens – French collapse is contagious Unherd
French Students Are Revolting—and so they should be Steve Keen (Micael T)
The Israeli-American Wars in Eurasia and Europe’s Great Reset Pierre-Antoine Plaquevent (Micael T)
Good and bad Nazis – selective antifascism in politics and media Nachdenkseiten via machine translation (Micael T)
Sweden’s Terrible Nuclear Weapons Mistake Mattias Forsgren (Micael T)
Old Blighty
Don’t Panic! Disaster preparedness meets the anti-bedtime brigade M. F. Robbins (Micael T). I must disagree. Modern governments have often discouraged preparedness, viewing it as promoting panic and hoarding. The UK faces a real risk of food shortages, and some households may need to drastically lower power consumption this winter, all while invoking the specter of the marauding Russian bear.
From potatoes to onions and carrots: How everyday vegetables are disappearing before our eyes Independent
Liz Truss’s new book is the most deranged thing I’ve ever read Telegraph. Colonel Smithers: “When one has lost the Telegraph…”
The horse that ushered in Manchester United’s 21-year tragic arc Guardian (Colonel Smithers)
Israel vs. the Neighborhood
🚨 BREAKING: Israeli forces are reportedly setting fire to displaced Palestinians’ tents in eastern Gaza, along the so-called Yellow Line.
The screams of terrified children and families echo across Gaza. https://t.co/6EfjS65tVP
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) October 25, 2026
Biden’s Israel Catastrophe American Conservative. resilc: “I try to make sure all my Demo friends never forget this.”
Necro-Economics London Review of Books (guurst)
📰 My new report “Truth under the Rubble: Media in the Time of Genocide” is out
🔗 Available in all official UN Languages: https://t.co/D6whnBEhW4
🇺🇳 FOLLOW THE PRESENTATION
@ the UN General Assembly, New York
>Monday 26 October
2pm EST/ 7pm CETLivestream details will follow. https://t.co/kJbI9wi1WC
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) October 25, 2026
“‘All hell is breaking loose everywhere.’” The Floutist. Hebron.
Israel’s Lobby vs. US Democracy | A Special Roundtable John Mearsheimer, YouTube
Israelis Vote as Gaza Starves: Little Hope a New PM Will Be Different Ian Proud
Israel extends military barrier through farmland in southern Syria Anadolu Agency
New Not-So-Cold War
Accused of robbing Europe for Zelensky, von der Leyen fled the European Parliament TopWar (Micael T). More of this, please.
Western Analysts Shocked: Previously Emptied Russian Armor Bases Quietly Filling Up Again Simplicius
Ukraine war pushes Russian oil to Arctic route Barents Observer
Russia likely to harden posture on Japan at least until Ukraine war ends Japan Times
Trump Talks Peace While the CIA Is Fueling the War in Ukraine Larry Johnson. Moscow is merely indulging Trump. Does anyone aside from paranoid Zelensky and his European backer think Trump repackaging the same “deals” Russia rejected amounts to anything?
“Musk’s satellites allowed Ukraine to massacre college teens – Moscow”
Elon Musk, a CIA and Pentagon contractor, squeezing more cash out of the Pentagon as his satellites enable murder of civilians:
SpaceX “certainly has the US government over the barrel….Elon Musk’s SpaceX pressured the Pentagon into paying higher rates for Starlink satellite connectivity used by US kamikaze drones during the Iran war…
…Starlink and Starshield remain closely intertwined, with Starshield relying on the broader Starlink network of roughly 10,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites, according to Reuters
— ⏳Towhee 🌏☮️ (@amborin) October 27, 2026
Brief Frontline Report – October 26th, 2026 Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Popov
McConnell: Latest Trump bid to end Russia-Ukraine war ‘certain to fail’ The Hill
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Patient records exposed in Quest breach: What you need to know Malwarebytes
Imperial Collapse Watch
Inside the Pentagon’s doomsday plan to keep America fighting if global war erupts Fox
Are we sleepwalking into World War III? Financial Times
Civilizational State Values Versus Nihilistic Exceptionalism Karl Sanchez
Trump 2.0
Trump merchandise stores are shutting down across the country Independent (Dr. Kevin)
Trump’s Inflation Lies Collapse: The Numbers Expose His Economic Con Egberto
Trump Admin Posts Map of America With No Vermont Newsweek (resilc). So will he remove Michigan if El-Sayed becomes Senator?
The Trump administration moves to treat millions of mentally ill veterans with psychedelics Politico
Midterms
Robert Barnes: Who Will Trump Blame? Judge Napolitano, YouTube. A detailed analysis of polls, election prospects, and future scenarios. Surprisingly positive news suggests that significant Republican losses might push Trump to reassess his stance on wars and challenge the influence of the Israel lobby in the Democratic Congressional leadership.
America’s Most Fascist Candidate, Brought To You By Big Oil The Lever
Our No Longer Free Press
New book published today — STAND AND DELIVER – THE HISTORY OF PODCAST JOURNALISM John Helmer
Economy
Trump says the economy is better than ever, but voters are being crushed Telegraph
Russia’s War on Ukraine Is Straining Food and Fuel Supply Bloomberg
AI
What the US Movement Against Data Centers Can Learn From Everywhere Else Wired (resilc)
The Bezzle
“Prediction” Markets Were Comically Wrong About the Brazilian Election Futurism. Prediction markets offer insights but are unreliable if the participants hold biases or poor information. Historically, they have misjudged outcomes like Brexit, highlighting the importance of examining the number of bets as a true reflection of voter sentiment.
Class Warfare
Serbia shows the power of organised resistance Diem25 (Robin K)
Antidote du jour:
A bonus:
The jaguar, exhausted, swims toward the boat, and the soldiers pull it out of the water.
Beautiful kindness! https://t.co/UMQd6J4IZA— The Figen (@TheFigen_) October 20, 2026
A second bonus:
Falling in love. https://t.co/VtJ40XDxoY
— Larry Dean (@larry_mcwethy) October 19, 2026
And a third:
don’t think people talk enough about how horses are basically giant goofy animals pretending to be elegant.
— Antidepressant Content (@depressionlesss) October 20, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
