A couple had an owl as a ring bearer at their wedding, but the owl flew away New York Post
What Plant Philosophy Says About Plant Function and Intelligence Aeon (Dr. Kevin)
The Flow of Time: Battle of Lepanto Big Serge. Big Serge is always great to read.
John Lee Clark is pioneering a new language and culture. MPR (Chuck Ell)
Midlife blood biomarkers predict dementia in later life Medpage
A new study suggests that bird flu cases are going undetected, and that’s a problem for all of us. CNN. Paul R: “They’re getting sick without being diagnosed. So visibility is limited.”
US prepares for bird flu pandemic with $176 million Moderna vaccine deal Ars Technica
#covid-19
People with severe COVID-19 show cognitive decline years later New Scientist. Paul R: “An analysis of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in the first wave of the pandemic found that the sustained decline in cognitive ability was equivalent to losing 10 IQ points.”
Climate/Environment
🚨In the 24 years since 2000, we humans have dug, drilled, and blasted more minerals/metals/fuels from the Earth’s surface than we extracted in the entire 20th century. That’s a lot more.
🧨This is our story, whether you like it or not.
🪨We live in a material world.🪨 pic.twitter.com/4p9G7SgevO— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) August 1, 2024
Hillary Clinton-run group funds Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion whole body
Maui Wildfire Plaintiffs Reach $4 Billion Settlement as Memorial Day Approaches The New York Times (Kevin W)
china?
China continues to dominate in science, Intel faltering in chips Ian Welsh (Michael T)
China central bank adviser suggests bigger stimulus, inflation target Reuters
US tightens pressure on China to chip away at old Cold War dominance Asia Times (Kevin W)
Supply Chain
CO2 Shortage: How Did We Get Here? Gas World
Hospitals are facing a shortage of bottles for blood cultures, which is a huge problem. Chief Medical Officer
Africa
Famine officially declared in Sudan whole body
The division of Europe
EU denounces Hungary, Slovakia over Ukrainian oil sanctions Politico
Scholz cuts social housing funding Jacobin (Micael T) via machine translation
Sweden, US sign new nuclear power deal Government.se. Micael T: “Sweden’s first step towards developing and deploying nuclear weapons on its own territory? Sweden has signed a surrender agreement for “defense cooperation”, which does not exclude Swedish nuclear weapons aimed at Russia.”
German prosecutors, police and media are condemning and investigating endless incidents of ‘Nazi salutes’ in a completely healthy and non-hysterical campaign to eradicate fascism once and for all. Organic Phius (Micael T)
Old Blight
let’s go
>US backs Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader, sends more fighter jets, warships to Middle East WSWS
Israel Gaza War Live: Israel kills 5 in Tulkarem airstrike, raids city Al Jazeera
Exclusive report: Witnesses say Haniyeh was killed by a projectile, not a planted bomb Middle East Eye. This issue is significant because the New York Times published a lengthy article about two months ago claiming the blast was caused by a planted bomb.
Erdogan to Biden: ‘Israel Wants Gaza to Escalate into Conflict Zone’ Middle East Online
Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah urge Israel to respond with ‘dangerous’ response to killing of leader satellite
The extreme hunger of Gaza residents could affect future generations Conversation (Dr. Kevin)
Craig Murray: Israel’s Nihilistic State Consortium News (Judith)
A War That Isn’t a New Cold War
Ukraine SitRep: Catch up Alabama Month. A great overview, especially for those who haven’t had time to look into it in detail.
Interesting Details of Prisoner Exchange Between Russia and the United States Anti-Spiegel (Michael Tee)
Russia-Western Prisoner Swap – What the Mainstream Media Isn’t Saying, Israel’s Real Target in Iran’s Hamas Political Leader Assassination Is the US Mark Sleboda, Faultline
Ukraine remains on alert as prisoner swap shows Moscow, West can negotiate The Washington Post (Kevin W)
Russian MODs are on fire, Belousov takes a scythe at corruption Simplicius
Sirakistan
As misery grows, Pakistanis rise up against ruling elite The New York Times
Big Brother is watching you
Empire Collapse Clock
The United States was not prepared for world war, the committee warned. Axios
Germany Helps Protect South Korea’s Borders Tagesschau (guurst) through machine translation
Georgia Stops Coup by US-Backed War Crimes Group Active Action (Micael T)
Defense Secretary withdraws plea agreement with 3 9/11 suspects, restores death row inmateses ABC Australia (Kevin W)
Tracking Lieutenant Kelly Seymour Hush (Robin Kay)
Kamala
Harris campaign eager to maintain momentum Hill
Kamala – First time without a script:
“This is just an incredible testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and the power that comes from understanding the importance of diplomacy.”
what? pic.twitter.com/lxlhhG1xhT
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 2, 2024
🚨 Harmeet Dhillon torched “Chameleon” Kamala after working with her professionally for over 20 years.
“Kamala only seemed Indian when she asked Indian-Americans for money. Her ridiculous accent was not from the South. No one speaks like that in Jamaica. It’s creepy.” pic.twitter.com/dp7FGhsW9m
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 1, 2024
erase
Biden, victim of ‘coup’ – Trump RT. Trump has been throwing out a lot of bullshit lately that has been way off the mark. Maybe he’s regaining his footing?
I have crossed the Rubicon and am supporting the Republican Party and President Trump.
Many people (my ex-self included) are stuck in a mental framework that becomes their identity and prevents them from fundamentally developing their thinking with new facts and information. I…
— David Marcus (@davidmarcus) July 31, 2024
Trump Assassination Postmortem
Secret Service Tech Issues Could Have Missed Detecting Shooter at Trump Rally guardian
The Secret Service and the FBI still aren’t telling the truth about who shot the crook. Larry Johnson
GOP Clown Carr
The man who led the most radical plan of Project 2025, Pole Dance ProPublica (Robin Kay)
2024
Mr. Market has a sad story. Reader Alert: Check out these three data points that point to a sudden and sharp weakening of the U.S. economy. Are there any anecdotes or industry news that are consistent or contradictory?
Intel stock falls to 50-year low amid layoffs Business Insider
Central banks are turning the boat around, but their path is unclear Reuters
Wayfair CEO Compares Slowdown in Home Goods Sales to 2008 Financial Crisiss CNBC
Hershey slashes annual forecast after sales plunge FINIMATE
Lifting from Lambert’s 8/1 water cooler:
“I have a 30 year old family member who works on an assembly line building Peterbuilt trucks in Denton, Texas (PACCAR company). He is a senior and works the first shift. He was told not to come in next week. They are closed for a week because they are short on assembly line…
— Dave Colum (@DavidBCollum) July 31, 2024
A press that is no longer free
Censorship Industry: GARM Members Earn Billions in Federal Contracts Free Online Foundation (Li)
TikTok bans some criticism of Zionism under pressure from NGO backed by former Israeli intelligence agent This Pang (Robin Kaye). This came out earlier this week, but it’s still relevant.
Falling Apart Boeing Plane, Spaceplane
Boeing’s Starliner appears to have been a total failure Byte (Paul R). At least the astronauts can be rescued.
class struggle
The Hidden Role of Public Pensions in California Rent Rise Los Angeles Times. Paul R: “Pirate capital buys apartment buildings and raises rents. Tenants are shocked to learn that CALSTRS is investing in such a fund. Oops.”
Antidote of the day. Karma fubar sent this a long time ago, so my apologies!
A young falcon caught by my stepmother at my parents’ house. My parents have a large forested land, and the falcon has built a nest in one of the large beech trees. I reduced the file size by compressing it to jpeg, but made no other changes. I especially like the picturesque effect of the background, which is out of focus.
Check out yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
