Uncovered: 428-year-old secret dossier reveals Elizabeth I’s network of spies Guardian (Kevin W)
The Secret, Magical Life Of Lithium Nomea (Micael T)
Snowball Earth and the rise of multicellularity Santa Fe Institute (Chuck L)
Frederick Crews, Withering Critic of Freud’s Legacy, Dies at 91 New York Times (Anthony L)
Pattern of Brain Damage Is Pervasive in Navy SEALs Who Died by Suicide New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
#COVID-19
There are quite literally thousands of studies looking at the cognitive impacts of COVID on the brain. Meanwhile the @nytimes continues to mainstream far right propaganda that a quarantine four years ago caused brain damage. Yeah no it’s the virus https://t.co/ANZhFSKRYT https://t.co/h4SS29qiqD
— Julia Marie (@julia_doubleday) July 1, 2024
Do you know who is getting disabled in the millions by Covid infections?
Do you think it’s CEOs and company owners?No. It’s everyday working people.
Why the hell are unions and the left not screaming about this?
(pic from @_CatintheHat) pic.twitter.com/YaJv5GnzeV— tern (@1goodtern) July 1, 2024
China?
America’s priority should be chip design leadership Asia Times (Kevin W)
Looking at all the automation in Chinese factories, I am not sure that raw labor costs matter that much, particularly given that direct factory labor as a % of most manufactured goods product costs, like cars, was about 10% to 13% in the US (this as of when the auto biz was being bailed out post the financial crisis). I would assume China has considerably reduced direct factory labor inputs:
Soon China will be delocalising production to Europe to exploit local low-wage labour. https://t.co/4ZidDtoEOY
— Thomas Fazi (@battleforeurope) July 1, 2024
China’s commercial space hub opening clashes with exploding rocket mishap South China Morning Post
Climate/Environment
The Big Air Con Elite climate hypocrisy is not sustainable Unherd
Many Carbon Capture Projects Are Now Launching Los Angeles Times
‘Not just for fuddy-duddies’: interest in moths booming as species struggle Guardian
17 Years, $700 Million Wasted: The Stunning Collapse of New York’s Traffic Moonshot Wall Street Journal. From over the weekend, still germane.
Sea temperatures around Japan hit record high for third year Asahi
How climate change could be driving ‘killer’ cold outbreaks in oceans CNN
Climate crisis pushes Malawi food farmers into starvation Mail & Guardian
A ‘Safe’ Chemical in Plastic Bottles Could Reduce Insulin Responsiveness, Increase Diabetes Risk Independent
European Disunion
French National Assembly election: What’s at stake and what to expect? Al Jazeera (Kevin W)
Air France-KLM flags financial hit from tourists avoiding Paris Olympics Financial Times (Kevin W)
European puzzle. How Hungary will use its EU Council Presidency TASS in Russian, via machine translation (Micael T)
Is it a “democracy”? Instead of 373 million European citizens, just a group ‘making the decisions’ in EU is far smaller International Affairs (Micael T). I don’t think the EU democratic deficit is any secret, but this puts some dimensions on it.
Old Blighty
Tories narrow gap to Labour in poll as Sunak says election not decided The Standard
Gaza
‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 269: Israeli leaders slam prison services over release of al-Shifa Hospital director Mondoweiss (guurst)
A settler shot my husband. Then Israel bulldozed my family home +972 (Dr. Kevin)
Israel war on Gaza live: Residents flee Khan Younis amid artillery attacks Aljazeera
Israel to reportedly try creating Hamas-free ‘bubble’ zones in northern Gaza Times of Israel. An admission against interest.
German intelligence official travels to Lebanon to discuss preventing Israel-Hezbollah war and Blinken: Israel effectively lost sovereignty in north due to Hezbollah Jerusalem Post
New Not-So-Cold War
Beyond insane and irresponsible for the head of NATO to accuse China of instigating the conflict in Ukraine.
Especially when you know the crucial role that NATO played in instigating the conflict…
And when you know that China submitted a peace plan last year – that included… https://t.co/rhZuN8CiHt
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) July 1, 2024
Viktor Orbán expected to make surprise trip to Kyiv on Tuesday Guardian. Will Alex Christoforu’s Elensky (no typo) curse take hold?
US bases in Europe placed on heightened security alert due to ‘combination of factors’: Pentagon Anadolu Agency
Two Years of Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Ten Lessons to Learn. Russia in Global Affairs (Micael T)
Partisan resistance is growing in Ukraine. A train with Western aid derailed near Odessa…
Another train with Western help derailed near Odessa! Guerrilla resistance in Ukraine is gaining momentum and doing everything to help the early arrival of Russia and the total… pic.twitter.com/hCxMVmznTd
— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) June 29, 2024
Syraqistan
Iran to hold runoff election with reformist Pezeshkian and hard-liner Jalili after low-turnout vote Associated Press (Kevin W)
Iran’s election runoff: two candidates, two worldviews The Cradle
Saudi energy minister announces discovery of seven oil, gas deposits Arab News
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
How your FedEx driver is helping cops spy on YOU Daily Mail (Li). A must read.
Assange
Julian Assange’s lawyers reveal the twists and turns in WikiLeaks founder’s long road to freedom ABC Australia (Kevin W)
Immigration
Over 200 university researchers sign petition opposing Finnish deportation bill Anadolu Agency
Deportation after one “like”—German cabinet tightens up deportation rules WSWS (Micael T)
Imperial Collapse Watch
The West – indubitably – has lost Russia, and is losing Eurasia too Alastair Crooke (Chuck L)
U.S. Completes Delivery of 116 M1A1 Abrams Tanks to Poland: How Do Ukrainian Operators Evaluate Them? Military Watch
I make a prediction about the relationship between US government debt and impending crisis Bill Mitchell
Rising Market Power Has Led to the Rise in Far-Right Political Parties ProMaret
Biden. I am seeing even more Biden fundraising ads on YouTube. They now are so dense they look to be crowding out other promotions. And they are running on awfully-unsuitable programs, like Tucker Carlson (his interview of Matt Taibbi).
Anger mounts at Joe Biden’s inner circle after debate debacle Financial Times
Biden’s family privately criticizes top advisers and pushes for their ouster at Camp David meeting Politico (Kevin W). Classic. Democrats cannot fail, they can only be failed.
Democrats Consider Nominating Biden a Month Early: Report Ground News
What people don’t realize is that at night Joe Biden transforms into a vigilante superhero who is also senile. https://t.co/HmVNajfZQi
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 1, 2024
SCOTUS affirmatively green-lights a number of very scary points in which it holds POTUS immune. LIKE FIRING ANY FEDERAL EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEE AT WILL. Goodbye federal civil service. pic.twitter.com/6JCU3rjU7s
— Dirk Schwenk (Esq) 🎵 (@DirkSchwenk) July 1, 2024
Consistent with remarks by yours truly in comments:
From an unusually good source: Obama’s tweet supporting Joe Biden was disingenuous. In private, Obama is telling people Biden can’t win, and he is therefore in favor of an open convention. Obama will not say whom he supports, nor as of yesterday afternoon had he met personally…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 1, 2024
First Lady Jill Biden on What’s at Stake in 2024 Vogue. The fasionista adds: “Vogue has paid zero attention to her for the entire term. Now this.”
Supremes
3 surprising consequences of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision Politico
Trump has presumptive immunity for pressuring Pence to overturn 2020 election The Hill
First off, the “absolute immunity” SCOTUS invents is Absolute. If it falls within “core constitutional powers” there is no order than can be given that can be reviewed by the courts AT ALL. pic.twitter.com/4D5ChhnDyz
— Dirk Schwenk (Esq) 🎵 (@DirkSchwenk) July 1, 2024
Justice Thomas’ concurrence in Trump v. U.S. is hugely significant. He questions whether Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office is constitutional.
“If there is no law establishing the office that the Special Counsel occupies, then he cannot proceed with this prosecution. A private…
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) July 1, 2024
Supreme Court Impeachment Plan Released by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Newsweek (furzy). Help me.
Antitrust
Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model fails EU competition rules, Commission finds TechCrunch
AI
YouTube confirms it’ll pull AI fakes in 48 hours if a complaint’s upheld The Register
Class Warfare
Wealth at Birth and its Effect on Child Academic Achievement and Behavioral Problems NBER
Antidote du jour. heresey101: “This year’s family of barn swallows at our entryway alcove on the day before they flew away from the nest.”
And a bonus (Chuck L):
A beautiful but dangerous Sawfish pic.twitter.com/4L7mbkU9IA
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) June 29, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
