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I missed Pook-Emu Bee links yesterday, but I am making sure to make up for it by starting this post yesterday.

Photograph of the marina at Brooklyn Bridge Park facing Brooklyn, with the buildings of Brooklyn Heights visible in the background. There are many boats docked at the maraina (four in the immediate foreground). Off in the far left we can see the Brooklyn Bridge.
I took this photograph of the Marina at Brooklyn Bridge Park on the morning of June 7, 2026.

1. Uzbek Fighters in Syria Face Tensions with Al-Sharaa’s Government (Jacob Zenn for Jamestown. June 9, 2026.)

Whatever disagreements the various bands of foreign jihadists have, the Uzbek fighters have good reason to figure out a way to make it work. That reason?

This incident can also serve as a reminder to Central Asian states to continue developing repatriation frameworks for the return of foreign fighters.

In the case of Uzbekistan the concern for someone returning from fighting in Syria would be that the Uzbek security services may have a “repatriation framework” of sorts.

2. Justice Department Investigates Alleged Race Discrimination at the City University of New York (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. June 9, 2026.)

I can weigh in here as a CUNY grad: Don’t name programs in ways that can be shortened to “BMI”

3. Big tobacco hooked us on ultra-processed foods. It might teach us how to cut back (Maria Godoy for NPR. June 9, 2026.)

Interesting article but I there’s a problem with that headline.

4. Adagio celebrates Iced Tea Month with full-leaf cold brew teas. (Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. June 10, 2026.)

My first thought when I saw this headline was that I wasn’t a big fan of Adagio the visual novel. The tea looks more interesting.

5. Poland furious about failing to land any EU ambassador posts (Krzysztof Mularczyk for Brussels Signal. June 10, 2026.)

My first thought when I saw this headline was “this is still your future, Hungary.” But the article noted that it is also Hungary’s present.

6. Sanctioned Private Chinese Refiner Seeks Non-Iranian Crude (Charles Kennedy for OilPrice.com. June 11, 2026.)

Yet, Hengli could find itself in a Catch-22 situation in procuring non-sanctioned crude to prove that it’s not buying Iranian oil, as sellers may not be too willing to expose themselves to potential secondary sanctions by transacting with an entity sanctioned by the U.S.

I personally avoided this Catch-22 situation by not purchasing sanctioned Iranian crude.

7. ‘AI-pilled’ firms spend $7,500 per employee each month on AI (Rebecca Bellan for TechCrunch. June 10, 2026.) (HT Ambient Irony)

I’m starting to think I’m mighty impressive for running this site at a cost of $0 each month on AI. Should I pay for one of the models so I can ask it if I’m impressive?