Pot filled with gold coins buried by soldier 2400-year-ago discovered Interesting Engineering. “As we rode out to Fennario…”
Mercury could have an 11-mile underground layer of diamonds, researchers say CNN
Mysterious 2,500-Year-Old Graveyard Found Filled With Young Children Science Alert
Pandemics
The Olympics are being used to take the normalisation of Covid19 to the next level. If you can win silver with Covid19 – dont even think about staying away from work pleb! The follow up long covid stories will be unlikley to make the headlines….. https://t.co/lmobgP4cjr
— Health Before Profits – Australia (@healthb4profits) August 2, 2024
Some folk back home had a complicated wedding yesterday as their minister collapsed while conducting it.
The minister had come down with “a bit of a cold or hayfever or something” in midweek, but thought the best thing to do was push through, because… wait for it…
“if Olympic…— tern (@1goodtern) August 4, 2024
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Urgent Countermeasures Are Needed: Researchers Find Blowflies Carrying Bird Flu in Japan SciTechDaily
Climate/Environment
Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ larger than average, scientists find National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Heat deaths of people without air conditioning, often in mobile homes, underscore energy inequity AP
Oil companies sold the public on a fake climate solution — and swindled taxpayers out of billions Vox
A company wanted to store carbon under US forests; it may get its wish Floodlight
Africa
How capitalism is destroying the Horn of Africa: sheep and the crises in Somalia and Sudan Review of African Political Economy
Senator in Freudian slip – walks it back after saying US must keep “exploiting” Africa The Canary
What Kenyan protests tell us about economic management and the politics of reforms in African states An Africanist Perspective
China?
Why Is It So Hard for China to Boost Domestic Demand? Michael Pettis, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Former Global Times top editor Hu Xijin goes dark on social media after now-deleted article on China’s economic strategy Channel News Asia
‘Like being served a sentence’: Youth discontent flares as China puts renewed work into raising retirement age Channel News Asia
Scorching heatwave in China’s Yangtze Delta threatens power crunch, economy South China Morning Post
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China needs to pick a side, and it just might pick the West Asia Times. Author is Assistant Professor of Business Economics at the University of Nottingham and seems to have a few blind spots.
Blinken’s Asia trip beefs up alliances but will they endure? The Straits Times
US rejects Vietnam’s bid for ‘market economy’ status in blow to trade ties Financial Times
Syraqistan
Israel, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen Are Preparing for a Rolling and Comprehensive War Elijah J. Magnier
Top U.S. general in the Middle East as U.S. and Israel prepare for possible Iran attack Axios
US to deploy additional military resources to the Middle East Al Jazeera
Russian Il-76TD specializing in arms transport landed in Iran Bulgarian Military
Iran US Prepare Forces, Netanyahu Calls Biden Bluff; Rus Black Sea SU35 Patrols Target NATO Drones Alexander Mercouris (video)
Iran Keeps World on Pins and Needles Simplicius the Thinker
WAITING FOR THE MISSILES Larry Johnson, Sonar21
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‘Stop bullshitting me’: Biden said to scold Netanyahu in call on truce-hostage deal The Times of Israel
US president hopes Iran would stand down amid Mideast tension Anadolu Agency
Blinken speaks with UK, French counterparts to ‘deescalate’ rising Mideast tensions Anadolu Agency
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“Something came from the outside”: An Eyewitness Account of the Aftermath of Ismail Haniyeh’s Assassination Drop Site News
Iran arrests dozens in sweeping arrests following Hamas leader’s assassination Middle East Eye
Israeli leaders celebrate assassinations — and make the living pay the price +972 Magazine
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Genocide Trade-Offs Law and Political Economy Project
2 Georgia Guardsmen Die in Noncombat-Related Incidents in Iraq Military.com
European Disunion
Macron’s Liberal Coup Tribune
Sahra Wagenknecht sets conditions for possible coalition in East Germany Die Sachsen
Hungary says Croatia is unreliable for oil transit, sparks outrage in Zagreb Euractiv
Szijjarto: Possible Ukraine oil embargo ‘managed from Brussels’ Budapest Times
Just Transition Fund paying for axe throwing and sauna festivals in Estonia ERR
New Not-So-Cold War
Russian CEO Reveals New ‘Doomsday Drone’ to Use in Nuclear War Newsweek
Russians damage railway infrastructure in Poltava Oblast: trains delayed Ukrainska Pravda
Ukraine’s military says it sunk Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine, damaged S-400 missile system in ‘successful hit’ The Kyiv Independent
Crimean Bridge could be destroyed in coming months, Budanov says The Kyiv Independent
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Baerbock calls US missiles in Germany a ‘credible deterrent’ Deutsche Welle
Germany is all too happy to paint a target on its back Tarik Cyril Amar, The Ninth Wave
The Nakedness of EU ‘Geo-political’ Ambitions Will Be Revealed – As the Ukraine War Melts Away Alastair Crooke, Al Mayadeen
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Biden team blows off deadline for Ukraine war strategy Responsible Statecraft
Old Blighty
#BREAKING The ethnically-divided Mid-Northern kingdom is riven by ancient tribal hatreds and has witnessed centuries of bloody tribal conflict, much of it sparked by fanatical anti-flavour extremists from war-like English tribe of Keir Starmer, handpicked PM of King Charles III.
— gathara (@gathara) August 3, 2024
Freedom of Speech and the Fascist Wave Craig Murray
UK Government advisor calls for Covid-style controls against riots UnHerd
How is this statement not incitement? https://t.co/k6ewDwjs3v
— Daniela Gabor (@DanielaGabor) August 4, 2024
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Britain’s nuclear submarine software built by Belarusian engineers The Telegraph
O Canada
The end of progressive neoliberalism in Canada Canadian Dimension
South of the Border
US gov’t cites groups it funds to allege electoral ‘fraud’ in Venezuela Geopolitical Economy Report
Venezuela’s Supreme Court Asks Electoral Authorities to Submit Presidential Election Voting Records (+Enrique Márquez) Orinoco Tribune
2024
Watch Out for August! City Journal
Trump-Harris debate in flux as candidates trade barbs over what’s next USA Today
Trump
Judge denies Trump motion to dismiss DC case over selective prosecution The Hill
Kamala
HEAD OF NASA SAYS KAMALA HARRIS REALLY GETS SPACE Futurism
The Peculiar Partisans of Ostentatious Obedience The Wayward Rabbler
Sanders backs Walz in Harris veepstakes: He will ‘speak up’ for working people The Hill
Stein
US candidate Jill Stein considering vocal Palestine advocates for VP spot Al Jazeera
Imperial Collapse Watch
Lloyd Austin Cynically Revokes 9/11 Plea Deals, Which Correctly Concluded That the Use of Torture Is Incompatible With the Pursuit of Justice Andy Worthington, Close Guantanamo
Why Ammar al-Baluchi Turned Down The Guantanamo Plea Deal Forever Wars
Groves of Academe
Freedom from Dissent The Baffler
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
NFL to roll out facial authentication software league-wide The Record
AI
We Owe It to Ourselves to Shun These People Mercilessly Discourse Blog
Class Warfare
The School Lunch Fee Racket Boondoggle
Are Non-Competes Really Ending? BIG by Matt Stoller
The Bezzle
Pump and Trump The Verge. “Inside the MAGA-fueled fever dream of the 2024 Bitcoin Conference.”
Chartbook 302 Kamala v. crypto. Is 2024 really a Silicon Valley election? Or is this about “making Bitcoin great again”? Adam Tooze, Chartbook
FBI issues warning about scammers impersonating crypto exchanges Coin Telegraph
Driving Transit in Rural Minnesota: A Bus Operator Reflects on [Covid] Safety and Sustainability Workday Magazine
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.