Dear patient readers,
This post launched a bit light. Please come back at 7:45 AM EDT for a full ration.
New Zealand’s flightless birds are retreating to moa refuges EurekaAlert! (Chuck L)
#Sakurajima Volcano #Kagoshima, Japan, 29.07.2024, 16:46 local time
cam streamed by ZAIHO
Source: https://t.co/4jKC0AxMgJ pic.twitter.com/5oCDg0AQPF— Rita Bauer (@wischweg) July 29, 2024
A Fossil Named Tina May Rewrite the Story of Human Evolution Popular Mechanics (Chuck L)
Near-Grounding Incident in Great Barrier Reef Attributed to GPS Malfunction GCaptain (guurst)
#COVID-19
COVID surging in California, nears two-year summer high. ‘Almost everybody has it’ Los Angeles Times (Paul R)
Climate/Environment
How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer—and Shook the World Wired (Dr. Kevin)
Park Fire is now one of California’s largest wildfires on record, burning area nearly half the size of Rhode Island CBS (Kevin W)
Is Japan nearly cured of its nuclear allergy? Asia Times (Kevin W)
China?
US hands $500m military aid boost to Philippines amid China tensions Aljazeera
Justice Dept. Says TikTok Could Allow China To Influence Elections Fortune
Chinese EVs and the race for autonomous AI Asia Times
India
Winds of change in India-China relations Indian Punchline
India deploys army, air force as death toll due to landslides in Kerala climbs to 57 Anadolu Agency
South of the Border
Elon Musk had, out of his nearly 50k tweets, zero about Venezuela prior to April.
Now he’s tweeting non-stop about the “dictator.”
When I said Twitter is going full-circle back to the days of the Arab Spring, as a tool for toppling governments, this is what I meant. https://t.co/uFaNnk10em
— Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) July 30, 2024
Venezuelan Guarimbas: 11 Things the Media Didn’t Tell You Venezuelanalysis (Chuck L)
Olympics
Olympians called the food in Paris a ‘disaster’ — and one team is flying in its own chef Business Insider (Kevin W)
French Internet Lines Cut In Latest Attack During Olympics Bloomberg
European Disunion
Eurozone economy grows 0.3% over second quarter Financial Times
Säpo should be made responsible for censorship – that’s not very smart Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T: “SÄPO = Swedish Security Service”
Old Blighty
Winter fuel payments scrapped for millions BBC (Kevin W). Note his is a subsidy for pensioners and the poor.
Gaza
‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 297: Israel and Lebanon brace for new escalation after 12 Syrian residents of the Golan Heights were killed by a strike Mondoweiss (guurst)
Patrick Lawrence: No More Silence ScheerPost (Robin K). Important. Key point: “….join me in asking what we are not supposed to ask: Is what Israel is doing in Gaza worse than the Holocaust? ” I brought this up with Lambert a few days ago, and not as a question.
Up for discussion in the Israeli parliament: the legitimacy of raping prisoners pic.twitter.com/9KuqCW9ntK
— Hamza M Syed (@HamzaMSyed) July 29, 2024
“Dedicated to all partners in the purchase of our drones”
Israeli soldiers from the 5280 Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade filmed the detonation of Palestinian homes in Wadi Salka, east of Khan Yunis, as a dedication to Israeli occupation army donors who provided them with… pic.twitter.com/O08M3ezd55
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 28, 2024
Erdogan Says Turkiye Could ‘Enter’ Israel To Help Gazans Sputnik. Erdogan has been all hat, no cattle but he might settle on a lower-risk way to assist.
At rowdy cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said to condemn mob breaking into IDF bases, but compare it to anti-government protests Times of Israel
New Not-So-Cold War
Putin warns US against deploying long-range missiles in Germany Guardian
Ukrenergo not planning power supply restrictions in Ukraine on Tuesday Interfax. Some improvement in operations.
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
China Ponders Creating a National ‘Cyberspace ID’ The Register
Why the left should care about privacy Current Affairs (Paul R)
2024
America’s New Political War Pits Young Men Against Young Women Wall Street Journal. So all this political divisiveness is now hitting the gender divide among the young. At the margin, not very pro-reproduction.
Biden
Biden decries ‘extremism’ on Supreme Court, details plan for term limits, ethics code for justices Associated Press. Has he not gotten the memo that he is a lame duck?
Most Americans want Biden to resign now – poll RT. Rasmussen is a right wing pollster. Even so, gap between approval v. disapproval of Biden continuing suggest there would still be way more nays than yeas even with different question phrasing.
Kamala
Kamala Harris, triumphant cat lady: The political family has lost its sparkle Unherd
Harris Puts Abortion, a Weakness for Trump, at Center of Campaign Wall Street Journal. This sort of thing infuriates me. The women’s rights movement and their presumed ally, Team Dem, did absolutely nothing to secure abortion rights, which would not have been hard during Peak Feminism, the 1970, before the religious right had much clout. In most nations, abortion rights have come about via legislation, not court rulings. The Dems continue to be merely performative on this issue. There is no way a Harris Administration could get any meaningful legislation passed. Yet this is why voters should prefer her? Seriously? Because she is selling an empty bag? I could see abortion as on the list since pro-abortion voters are mad at the Republicans for rolling back abortion rights, but the lead when the Dems have nothing real to offer?
Kamala Harris Collapsed in 2020. Here’s How to Avoid a Repeat. Politico
Exclusive: Internet Star Estee Palti’s Humorous Take On Kamala Harris Cackle India Today Global, YouTube. Li: “Estee goes global!”
Trump
Donald Trump Backs ‘Strategic Bitcoin Stockpile’ in Speech to Crypto Faithful Wired (Dr. Kevin). Kill me now. US continues its slide into third-worldism.
Our No Longer Free Press
The most chilling words today: I’m from NewsGuard and I am here to rate you Jonathan Turley, The Hill. Obviously retaliatory. Disappointing that Turley does not seem inclined to sue, but perhaps he does not want to signal that’s an option until they dig their hole with their “report”.
Copyright Strikes Silence Paris Olympics Critics Reclaim the Net (Micael T)
German Publisher Stops All Printing of JD Vance’s Book Hillbilly Elegy Jonathan Turley
YouTube Escalates War on Ad Blockers Mashable
Woke Watch
Here’s Proof That Woke Capitalism Is in Retreat Crisis Investing (Micael T)
Mum jailed for forcing daughter into fatal marriage BBC :-(. But a reminder that “woke” is not always bad.
AI
Faisal Mahmood: A.I.’s Transformation of Pathology Eric Topol (Robin K)
From Sci-Fi To State Law: California’s Plan To Prevent AI Catastrophe ars technica
McDonald’s hit by first global sales drop since 2020 Financial Times
Crowdstrike 404
Delta Seeks Damages From CrowdStrike, Microsoft After Outage CNBC. I love these Godzilla v. Mothra fights.
The Bezzle
Sen. Cynthia Lummis announces bill for US Treasury to buy 1 million bitcoin worth $68 billion The Block (UserFriendly)
Trump Media Stock (DJT) – The 2nd Quarter Earnings Report Needs Explanation Forbes (furzy)
Tesla’s dismal results draw the shorts, and the tipsters, back out of the shadows Francine McKenna. The preview is informative.
News Site Says It’s Using to AI to Crank Out Articles Bylined by Fake Racially Diverse Writers in a Very Responsible Way Futurism (Paul R)
Class Warfare
Living through another great transformation… Branco Milanovic (Micael T)
Low-Income Homes Drop Internet Service After Congress Kills Discount Program arstechnica
John Deere under fire for laying off hundreds of American workers as it shifts manufacturing to Mexico New York Times (Kevin W)
CBDCs are a Threat to Liberty Reclaim the Net (Micael T)
Antidote du jour (Alena S):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
