Dear patient readers,
You got some extra links today because Lambert was not on Water Cooler duty yesterday and the Biden state of play is a rapidly moving target.
How a citizen scientist is trying to overhaul the American lawn Washington Post (Dr. Kevin)
Classics and Christians in the 12th Century Antigone (Anthony L)
An archeological revolution transforms our image of human freedoms aeon (Anthony L)
Ozempic Linked to Rare Cases of Vision Loss in Harvard Study Bloomberg (furzy). IM Doc has been talking about this for many weeks, and has had a case among his patients, which suggests it is more frequent than “rare”.
Debate: Is bird flu virus in cows adapted to better infect humans? STAT (Dr. Kevin)
Controlling Appetite Before It Starts: Scientists Identify Group of Neurons Linked to Feeling Full ScienceDaily (Chuck L)
Night owl behavior could hurt mental health, sleep study finds Stanford Medicine (Robin K)
#COVID-19
Zero Covid community Reddit (Paul R). A resource!
Immune response study explains why some people don’t get COVID-19 ScienceDaily (Kevin W). Have sent this to the Covid Brain Trust….
An outdated vaccine could be to blame for LA’s COVID surge NBC Los Angeles (Paul R)
Climate/Environment
Persistent heat wave in the US shatters new records, causes deaths in the West and grips the East Associated Press (Kevin W)
China’s Solar Sector Unlikely to Recover Soon as Glut Persists Bloomberg
Battery maker SK On declares ‘emergency’ as EV sales disappoint Financial Times
Nearly 2 million metric tons of wild fish used to feed Norwegian farmed salmon annually, report finds Seafood Source (Paul R)
China?
Trump cabinet hopeful wants the ‘Israel model’ for US China policy Responsible Statescraft
China’s subsidies create, not destroy, value Asia Times (Kevin W)
Japan and the Philippines sign a defense pact in the face of shared alarm over China Washington Post
Satellite images reveal China’s military build-up near Pangong Lake, India’s western border FirstPost
Japan protests China’s installation of buoy over its continental shelf RFA
European Disunion
Setback for the German export industry Tagesschau (guurst)
La belle France
French far right voters say ‘dirty tricks’ won election BBC (Kevin W). RN actually did get the most votes, and even a higher % of the total than in the first round. So the bitterness is not unwarranted.
Macron keeps France’s prime minister in place for ‘stability of the country’ after chaotic election Associated Press
Clashes break out in France following left’s surprise election win South China Morning Post
Old Blighty
Labour’s £10 Billion Crisis Bill Just the First Fiscal Challenge Bloomberg
New foreign secretary wants to reset UK-EU ties BBC (Kevin W)
South of the Border
La Rioja issues Argentina’s first emergency ‘quasi-currency’ in 20 years Buenos Aires Herald
Gaza
The Lancet Says Gaza Death Toll Could Exceed 186,000 Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Six-year-old Palestinian child Hikmat Badr died of malnutrition, Israel-enforced starvation and the prevention of food and medical supplies from entering the Gaza. pic.twitter.com/fJ3LGg6pvY
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) July 9, 2024
Israeli government accused of trying to sabotage Gaza ceasefire proposal Guardian (Kevin W)
Red Sea tension pushed up container prices 120% over last 6 months Middle East Monitor
New Not-So-Cold War
Hungary’s Orban unexpectedly visits China, backs Xi’s peace plan Reuters
Ukraine wants Poland to protect its skies near border Euractiv
Russian Breakthrough After Surprise Offensive in Toretsk HistoryLegends, YouTube
Ukrainian F-16 Saga Continues [i] Black Mountain Analysis (Li). Weapons porn!
West Admits Ukraine is Out of Air Defenses and Losing Ground, With No Way to Reverse it Brian Berletic, YouTube
Ukraine asks West for submarines RT (Kevin W). This would be funny if it was not serious.
🔌 In an attempt to cover the electricity deficit, Ukraine has increased purchases from its western neighbors twelvefold.@ukraine_watch pic.twitter.com/oEKWEN42fH
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) July 8, 2024
Syraqistan
Made in America: The ISIS conquest of Mosul The Cradle (Userfriendly)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Why GPS Is Under Attack New York Times (Dr. Kevin)
10 Billion Passwords Leaked in the Largest Compilation of All Time Cybernews
Imperial Collapse Watch
The U.S. Air Force Has a Big Problem It Can’t Solve: Its Fleet of Warplanes Is Old National Interest
Biden Agonistes
Democratic leaders rally around Biden as discontent grows within ranks The Hill
Since Lambert was traveling and had an open thread Water Cooler, here is Biden’s extraordinary, further self-discrediting call in to Morning Joe. Biden insisting on hanging on is going into mad king territory….when it was Trump who was supposed to be(come) the mad/bad king as the result of the Supreme Court immunity ruling. Oh, and as icing on the cake, Ryan Grim tweeted that at one point you could hear Biden stumble as he was shuffling paper, so it seems most if not all of this call was scripted.
President Joe Biden called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning. Here’s the segment (part 1): pic.twitter.com/skpmZt9qlY
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 8, 2024
Biden’s handlers guide him with flash cards – media RT (Robin K)
This Nato summit could save or sink Biden’s candidacy BBC
Who could actually replace Biden? We break down the options. Politico
The irrelevance of Biden’s senility Asia Times (Kevin W)
Joe Biden Is the Biggest Loser in American History, Part III Richard Kline
Biden Sounds A Lot Like Trump Ken Klipperstein
” rel=”nofollow”>Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff tests positive for Covid-19 days after joining Biden for July 4 celebrations Independent (Paul R)
Supremes
“A Death Squad Ruling”: The Press and Pundits Make Wild Claims in the Wake of the Court’s Immunity Decision Jonathan Turley
Abortion
Rate of women getting sterilized doubled after Roe was overturned KFF Health News (Robin K)
Our No Longer Free Press
Fox News Suffers Blow as Billionaire Joins Lawsuit Against Network New Republic (furzy)
AI
GEN AI: TOO MUCH SPEND, TOO LITTLE BENEFIT? Goldman Sachs
The Bezzle
How thousands of Americans got caught in fintech’s false promise and lost access to bank accounts CNBC (Li). Today’s must read because crazy. Also a warning NEVER to bank with a company with a cute name. We have our own version of this lesson. I thought my merchant processor had a boring suitable name like First Data but they branded themselves Clover. Beware!
Scammers swiping billions each year Associated Press
Class Warfare
Mike Bloomberg gives $1 billion to Johns Hopkins for free medical school Washington Post (furzy). Bloomberg has long been a HUGE charitable donor, and nearly always anonymous.
Laid-off tech workers advised to sell plasma, personal belongings SFGate. Paul R: “From July 1, but jeez.”
US workers in debt to buy groceries – ‘I had to downgrade my life’ BBC (Robin K)
Antidote du jour. William B: “Mama Pied-billed Grebe floats serenely on her nest.”
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
